Simple snack or appetizer: Snap peas and edamame

This is so fast, easy and nutritious, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it sooner! But better late than never. Three simple ingredients: a bag of frozen edamame (soy beans in their pods), a bag of fresh snap peas, and my own dehydrated homegrown tomatoes from this summer.

I simply microwaved the snap peas and edamame according to the instructions on each bag, then plunged the pods into a large bowl of ice water to chill, and to stop the cooking process. This preserves flavor, color and nutrients.

After they cooled, I drained them and then blotted them dry on a kitchen towel. Once arranging them on a platter, I sprinkled them with sea salt, and then scattered my own dried tomatoes. Voila!

Guests really loved this, and what was leftover was just as good as a pre-dinner appetizer the next night. I’m definitely going to keep a couple bags of the edamame and peas in the freezer now. The edamame and peas were pretty cheap, especially considering they can be frozen, so this qualifies as a thrifty idea.

-maven