Mushy Peas with Mint

Mushy peas are an easy way to spruce up a menu when you’re weekly meal planning. Add a little mint and you have a tasty side meal (like mashed potatoes) or spread for your bread or pizza. And even pasta sauce.

It’s an easy veggie add and that’s why you see it across many dishes from a 5 star hotels plate to peasant bowls as I’ve seen in my 10 year journey in hotel and restaurant event planning.

Mint + pea together are fresh tasting ingredients even when you use the frozen and pantry ingredient forms. And they go well with a mint pea soup that you can serve warm or cool.

Cooking mint mushy peas is easy but the best way to cook a pea recipe is with a microwave.

These are the simple steps:

1) add filtered water to a microwaveable bowl and cover. Heat for 1-2 minutes. Don’t overcook and then each pea will be puffy full.

These are cooked peas without any salt.

Compare them to the microwaved pea way (without salt) where each pea is juicy full:

Either way, the bright Kermit the Frog green pea jewels 🫛

Then when you add green spearmint, you get a complementary color and taste. With the mild and herb-y tastes.

These create the type of flavors you’d expect from a restaurant worthy side dish. 🍽️

I got the idea of mint peas when I was an event planner for a busy Spanish restaurant neighboring Chef Jose Andres’ Jaleo downtown DC restaurant.

One day I tried another restaurant’s side peas that never left my mind.

I wondered why peas weren’t more celebrated.

There isn’t a food I don’t like or don’t like to explore…

And as years went by past post-catering years, I discovered I enjoyed home cooking and baking and peas have played a role for everyday dishes.

On quest for the best pea type in grocery stores (one of my favorite places to be), I found that the frozen peas work well for almost any savory dish.

Plus, pea pods are healthy!

So I made my own version…

Special mint peas turn the boring peas upside the head into chic peas and can be made easily with a little water into a bowl of mint pea soup.🥣

And green peas need something extra because they aren’t as chic as chick peas that can be made into all kinds of plant-based dishes mimicking protein…

Like mushy peas. That are even better with green lentils. You can cook those quicker than most lentils or beans (about 35 minutes on regular medium heat) and then simply blend them in a Magic Bullet blender.

With green peas, you can eat half-a-cup or 100 grams of peas for about 70 calories.

Powerful vitamin pea pellets are also loaded with Vitamin C, E, and zinc to name a few of their anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting power.

With new season transitions like back-to-school or new work schedules, that can create anxiety or nervous feelings, a frozen pea recipe is an easy way to get in your veggies without fuss or muss.

…And they also help to soothe gut discomfort where anxiety can lurk. And the mint helps with aches (stomach and head aches are most common).

You may be too busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off (that was a common hotel catering saying we used) to notice fully your body aches.

So a bowl of subtly mint peas can help balance your moods and aches.

And this could be the reminder you need:

Take a few moments to notice your discomforts maybe on your yoga mat.

It helps your daily energy instead of trying to muster through the season or week.

…Because one season can easily turn into a new normal way of living that’s not healthy or happy. And we don’t want that!

Good news is you can restore the non-serious body signs with a few lifestyle and habit changes… that also include foods!

You can take the 2-minute body balance quiz to easily see where you need restoration.

Mint Mushy Peas

For variety (that Vatas love), you can mix up your mushy peas with high anti-inflammatory spearmint that is a more subtle and balanced taste with peas than peppermint.

A mint blend that you can find at the grocery store or a tea like Sleepytime tea has the spearmint ingredient built-into the blend. Ready to make these mint peas?

Oh, and would be delicious with a no-butter bearnaise sauce. 💭