Sweet Treats – Sugar Snap Pea and Corn Salad

Mid June brings my favorite garden vegetable – sugar snap peas. They are sweet treats hanging on six-foot tall vines getting more plump with each passing day. As soon as they form I want to pluck and gobble them up, but I know I am rewarded by waiting until the sugars fully develop. Then I eat them like candy while toiling away pulling weeds and tending crops in the garden.

Although it’s difficult, I try to save enough to serve with dinner. Sometimes we eat them raw on a crudité platter or throw them into a stir fry or a Thai curry. Other times I sear them quickly in sesame oil and top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Tonight however, I wanted something a little different. So I combined the crisp, raw sugar snap peas with grilled corn cut off the cob, to make a simple summer salad. The sweetness of the corn and peas paired beautifully with the brininess of seared sea scallops I served with them.

Fresh sugar snap peas have only a short season in the garden; we get to indulge for only a few weeks in late spring. So when they are sweet and plump and ripe on the vine, I try to use them in as many ways as I possibly can. And this sugar snap pea and corn salad is definitely one of the best.

Sugar Snap Pea and Corn Salad

This simple summer salad can be prepared in a million ways depending on what you have on hand. Switch out the basil for other herbs – cilantro, dill, parsley, tarragon. Add salty olives in place of or in addition to the cheese. Include avocado, barely cooked zucchini, or slivers of red pepper for variety. Any way you make it, the sweetness of the sugar snap peas and corn shine through in this salad, while the other ingredients play a secondary role.

Serves 4, ½ hour

1½ cups corn cut from 2 ears

4 oz. sugar snap peas

10-15 cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

½ oz. pecorino romano, shaved

5 basil leaves, torn

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1. Husk the corn and place on a hot grill turning frequently until there are some char marks all around, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Trim the sugar snap peas, cut them into ½-inch pieces, and put in a bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients.
3. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels from the cob and place in the bowl with the sugar snap peas. If you don’t want to get corn kernels all over the counter, put the pointy end of the cob in the center hole of a bundt pan and cut off the kernels from top to bottom. They will fall right into the bundt pan.
4. Add the cherry tomatoes, cheese, basil leaves, salt and pepper, olive oil, and lime juice to the bowl and stir to mix.
5. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Serve cold.

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