Springtime Dispatch + Sugar Snap Peas

In which we celebrate the change of seasons with a springtime dispatch from author Crescent Dragonwagon, followed by her recipe for a salad made with sugar snap peas.

“Here in Vermont, it’s still Mud Season; we don’t get our gardens in until early May (unless you count garlic, which got planted the previous fall, when the rest of the garden got put to bed). It can be spring on the plate, however, with this lovely, bright flavored sugar snap pea salad, which uses the brand new fresh-from-the-new-season’s-ground edible pod peas (coming in now from Florida and elsewhere in the South) with the good late winter navel oranges. Mint in the vinaigrette makes the whole thing even lighter and more refreshing. We look forward to this one every year.

What varieties of beans will I be planting when the ground finally thaws and dries out enough? We grow 10 or 12 types, but for sure the selection includes Musicas, rattlesnake, scarlet and white runners, Eureka, black valentine, and dragon’s tongue….”

Sugar Snap Pea, Orange & Spinach Salad

1 pound sugar snap peas, stemmed

2 oranges, preferably seedless navel oranges, peeled and sectioned

3 scallions, derooted, whites and about two inches of green sliced

1/2 pound fresh baby spinach, well washed and dried

1 recipe Citrus-Mint Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Serves 4 as a starter

1. Bring a large pot of water to a full boil (you want the quantity of water large enough so that it doesn’t stop boiling when you add the sugar snaps) and set a colander in the sink. Drop the snaps into the boiling water and watch them closely. When they turn an exquisitely bright green, after about a minute, drain them immediately into the colander and rinse them with very cold water. Blot them dry, treat yourself to one (crispy, sweet, tender), and put the rest in the fridge until you’re ready to complete the salad. (You may refrigerate the cooked sugar snaps for as long as overnight.)

2. Combine the sugar snaps, orange sections, scallions, and spinach in a large bowl. Drizzle with about half the vinaigrette and toss well. Taste a leaf, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Add more vinaigrette if you like (I personally prefer under-dressing a salad and passing extra at the table) and serve immediately.

Citrus-Mint Vinaigrette

Technically not a vinaigrette since it is made not with vinegar but with lemon and orange juice, but “citrusette” is too coy for something so good.

1 orange, preferably organic

2 lemons, preferably organic

1 teaspoon honey or sugar

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Makes about 1/2 cup

 Using the finest grater you have, grate the zest of the orange and one of the lemons, and place the grated zests in a medium jar with a screw-top lid. Now halve the citruses and squeeze their juice into the jar, catching and discarding any seeds. Add the remaining ingredients to the jar, and shake well. This vinaigrette will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

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Crescent Dragonwagon is the James Beard Award–winning author of seven cookbooks, including Bean by Bean, Passionate Vegetarian, and The Cornbread Gospels. She is also a contributing editor to Relish magazine and has appeared on Good Morning America, Today and NPR’s The Splendid Table  and On Point (click here to listen). She lives, grows, and cooks her beans on a farm in Putney, Vermont.