When I was a kid, there was a restaurant my family would go to for occasions like birthday celebrations. The rest of the food was good, but we really went there for the pea salad. Normally a salad would not be the big draw in our restaurant choices, but there was something about this pea salad. It was at the same time fresh and creamy, with smoky salty bits of bacon. The texture had pop from the peas, crunch from the water chestnuts, and crisp from the bacon. For some reason, at one point the restaurant took the pea salad off their menu. Thus I was forced to resort to re-creating that magical pea salad myself. They eventually put it back on the menu (probably because everyone who ate there asked about it), but by then I already had my own home version. It’s a hit at every party I bring it to.
Guessipe
- 1 lb frozen peas, thawed
- 15-20 whole snow peas, set aside a few for garnish
- 1/3 cup red onion, diced
- 4 oz water chestnuts, diced
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- Salt to taste
- 7 slices bacon, crumbled
- tomato slices for garnish
Mix together all ingredients except the bacon and tomato slices. You can use sour cream instead of plain yogurt if that’s what you happen to have. I just always have plain yogurt on hand.
Fry up the bacon slices, then crumble them on top of the pea salad. The bacon will get mixed in for eating, but I like to leave it on top until the last moment. This keeps the bacon crisp, plus can make for nice presentation.
Garnish with the snow peas and tomato slices. This isn’t necessary, but makes for pretty plating. Feel free to get creative.
