Triple-Pea and Asparagus Salad with Feta-Mint Dressing Recipe (2024)

Food
Recipes
Salads
Vegetable Salads

3.7

(3)

4 Reviews

My upbringing in Australia was unequivocally cross-cultural. Growing up in the suburbs of Sydney with Chinese parents, food was the pipeline to our heritage. My mum was a fervent cook, wowing her three hungry children with complex Cantonese flavors from her motherland. Our palates were accustomed to big flavors—stir-fried Asian greens laced with sharp fermented bean curd, steamed ‘porkcakes’ spiked with salted black beans, and hotpots that sang with salient notes of ginger and umami. With these punchy flavors as our dinnertime norm, the day my mum served steak with peas was always going to be memorable. While I still ate and appreciated meat during my early teens, it was the vibrant mound of peas that got my attention. Sure, I had eaten peas in omelettes and fried rice before, but I had never experienced peas as a side dish, so naked and unadorned. As I popped them into my mouth, each pea burst with a grassy sweetness that thrilled me. Soon, I would part ways with steak forever, but peas remain one of my ultimate comfort foods.While I enjoy peas all year round (you will always find a bag or two in my freezer for quick pantry meals), there’s sweet relief when the first peas of the season, in all their incarnations, appear. The arrival of green peas, snow peas, sugar snaps, and pea shootssignals promise and renewal, and the chance to reset our mind and our diet with a greener outlook.I usually kick off early summer by excessively gorging on peas. Sugar snaps and snow peas don’t even require cooking—snack on them raw or slice razor thin and add them to salads. And while it’s great to find pre-podded peas, there is something intensely gratifying in methodically tearing open a fresh pod and sliding out the pudgy, tender spheres. When purchasing fresh peas, choose pods that are bright green and plump, and on the smaller side—overlargepods can house starchy peas. Make sure you don’t discard your pods – I recently discovered that the empty pea pods can be used to make veggie stock. The Venetian dish risi e bisi, a soupy rice with peas, is traditionally made with pod stock, which delivers an assertive pea flavor.This salad brings fresh flavors to the plate with confidence and swagger. Barely blanched peas mingle with pan-fried sugar snaps, snow peas, and another of my favorite spring ingredients, asparagus, which are cooked on high heat until just tender yet still crispwith the slightest hint of charring to add smokiness. I’ve chosen farro as the workhorse grain in this salad—its distinct chewy, nutty texture is substantial both to the bite and to the appetite. Salty, lemony, and herbaceous, the feta-mint dressing will likely become your summer stalwart, as it is also perfect served with grilled vegetables, folded through warm pasta, or slathered on crispy roasted potatoes.

ByHetty McKinnon

Updated on August 2, 2023

Tested by

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked farro
4 cups vegetable stock
1 (6-ounce) block Greek feta cheese
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon lemon zest plus 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon kosher salt
10 ounces shelled green peas (preferably fresh, but frozen OK)
6 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed
6 ounces snow peas, trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided
8 ounces asparagus, woody stems removed

Directions

Place the farro in a large pot, and cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil over high. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the farro is soft yet still chewy, about 25 minutes. If there is any liquid left, drain. Let farro cool.
While farro cooks, place the block of feta in a shallow bowl. Top with 1/2 cup olive oil, chopped mint, lemon zest and juice, 1 teaspoon garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Using the back of a fork, mash the feta into small chunks. Set aside.
Bring a small pot of water and kosher salt to a boil over high. Add the green peas, and blanch just until the peas are tender yet still crunchy and bright green, about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Drain immediately, and let peas cool under cold running water. (Cooling the peas quickly is important to stop them from overcooking and to keep the vibrant green color.)
Heat a large skillet over high. When skillet is hot, reduce heat to medium, and add 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining 1 teaspoon garlic. Cook until aromatic, about 10 seconds. Add the sugar snap and snow peas. Season 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and cook, shaking the pan every now and then, until the peas are crisp-tender and bright green, 3 to 4 minutes. (A little bit of charring on the peas is great.) Remove immediately, and spread in a single layer to let cool to room temperature. (If left in a pile, they will discolor.)
In the same skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and add the asparagus. Season with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and cook until just crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from pan, and spread in a single layer to let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
Toss together farro, peas, asparagus, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in a bowl. Spoon the feta mixture over the farro mixture, and toss to combine. To serve, top with mint.