Snap Pea Citrus Salad

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Nothing beats the texture of snap peas. Ooh, that fresh crunch! If you have only used them in stir-fries, now is the time to chop them and keep them raw. Texture is so important in salads, and this vegetable delivers.

Perfect for late winter-early spring, make this salad when you don’t know what to eat. One day it’s snowing and the next it’s sunny and you don’t need a coat. This confusing time is when seasonal inspiration can be tough to figure out.

You can prep the salad and dressing in advance. This is one reason why I’m very into no-lettuce salads. They keep their good bite. That’s even true for leftovers you’ve already tossed in the dressing. 

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Sugar snap peas are in season from spring to early summer. Fresh ones should snap and break when you bend them in half. I love them raw. For this salad, I slice them into 1/4-inch-long segments, so it’s spoonable and easy-to-eat.
• Mandarin oranges have wonderful flavor, and the best part is that they are easy to peel because their skin is thin and delicate. Unlike navel oranges, you don’t have to slice off the white pith. 
• Shredded cabbage: For color, I like red cabbage, but green cabbage will also work in this salad. I buy it already shredded to reduce the prep work.
• Shredded carrots: I also buy them precut. You can shred carrots yourself with the big holes of a box grater or the grating disc on a food processor, but they won’t come out as cleanly cut. 
• Scallions are my onion of choice in any recipe with Asian flavors. These aromatic mild green onions are almost like a cross between fresh herbs and onions. 
• Peanuts add nutty crunch to the salad giving the crisp snap peas, cabbage and carrots another even more texture. 
• Peanut lime dressing: It’s creamy with peanut butter, fresh lime juice, low-sodium soy sauce, ginger, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. I always use natural peanut butter. If I’m down to the middle or the bottom of the jar and it’s thicker, I let the peanut butter sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then it will mix more easily with the other ingredients. 

Serving

Because this is a no-lettuce salad, you can prep and assemble the ingredients and make the dressing up to 2 days in advance. Then you are all set for dinner to serve it with this red pepper, broccoli & cashew stir-fry, this spring fried rice with broccoli, edamame and peas or these asparagus & mushroom udon noodles.

Tofu, salmon or chicken would all be great additions to the salad to turn it into a main dish.

Recipe Tips

• If you want to make the salad more filling, you can toss in brown rice or quinoa. This is also a good way to stretch leftovers into a full lunch salad.
• You can use almond butter and chopped almonds instead of peanuts and peanut butter. I have tested this recipe with both, and it’s hard for me to pick a favorite.
• If you love cabbage, you can use a coleslaw mix. The salad calls for a cup of shredded cabbage and a cup of shredded carrots. Using 2 cups of a packaged coleslaw mix, will give you more cabbage than carrots. 

More Snap Pea Recipes

Snap Pea Lentil Salad
Everything Sautéed Snap Peas
Lemony Snap Pea Couscous