This tasty green pea and broad bean salad is packed with fresh flavours and makes the perfect summer side salad. Crispy little gem lettuce, crunchy radishes and mild spring onions add plenty of texture, while the sweet peas and broad beans add pops of sweetness. With a simple honey mustard vinaigrette, this salad is ideal for barbeques, picnics or a light lunch on a warm day.
It's lovely having a husband with a garden allotment! It means at this time of year, I get supplied with an assortment of fresh seasonal vegetables, which all make their way to our dining table in some form or another.
Yesterday's offering consisted of a little gem lettuce, a bag of green peas and broad beans and a couple of large spring onions. Absolutely perfect for turning into a salad to accompany the honey-mustard glazed gammon that was baking in the oven!
So I made this tasty fresh pea and broad bean salad. This fresh vegetable salad is so easy to put together. Apart from the tedious job of peeling the broad beans, this salad comes together in minutes!
And what a fresh and tasty salad it is!
With the crispness of the lettuce and crunchy radishes, coupled with the mild onion flavour of the spring onions and the delicious sweet nuttiness of the peas and beans, this is a fresh and vibrant spring salad that has flavour in every bite. And I've added a little chopped mint for extra oomph.
The lemon vinaigrette dressing is what really pulls everything together. A simple mix of lemon juice, honey, mustard and olive oil emulsifies into a bright, tasty vinaigrette that is the perfect dressing to balance the sweetness of the peas and beans.
This is the perfect summer salad to serve when you're tired of the ubiquitous tomato and lettuce!
And if you're anything like me, and like to serve a variety of side dishes with a meal, then this delicious creamy mushroom pasta salad with a chutney and oyster sauce dressing (yes, really - try it and see!) makes a fantastic accompaniment.
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Recipe information
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes (for the peas and beans)
Yield: Serves 4 as a side salad
Ingredients
**You can find the exact ingredient quantities for making this green pea and broad bean salad on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.**
- Peas and broad beans - I've used fresh, but you can use frozen - they make the salad even easier to put together. If using fresh beans and peas, they should be podded and boiled for 5 minutes. Then the tedious job of pulling the thick skins off the beans starts. This is where an obliging husband or child would come in handy! If the beans are REALLY fresh, you could get away with leaving the skins on (but I don't really recommend it).
- Lettuce - you could cut the lettuce into wedges or simply pull the individual leaves off and use those. It really depends on how large the little gem lettuce is.
- Mint - peas and mint go so well together that I decided to add a few leaves of chopped mint to the salad. If you also enjoy the combination of mint and peas, you might like to try this recipe for minted smashed peas. If you don't like mint, leave it out.
- Spring onion - I actually prefer the flavour of the smaller spring onions, but this was presented with great pride and joy at how big it had grown, so I added it to the salad! Whatever size spring onions you use, they should be finely sliced.
- Radish - this adds a peppery crunch to the salad. They should be thinly sliced. I added them because I like them and happened to have them in the fridge. You could leave them out.
- Dressing:
- Olive oil - this forms the base of the dressing. I've used a ratio of 3 parts olive oil to 2 parts lemon juice for this recipe.
- Lemon juice - for acidity. If you decide to use vinegar rather than lemon juice, you might want to use less vinegar and use a ratio of 3 parts olive oil to one part vinegar.
- Honey - I only used a small amount of honey as I didn't want the dressing to be too sweet. You can increase the amount to your own taste.
- Dijon mustard - this adds warmth and balances the sweetness of the honey. Adjust it to your own taste. If you don't have Dijon mustard, a good substitute would be wholegrain mustard, which is quite mild. English mustard is quite strong and might overpower the other flavours.
- You may also like to add a little salt and black pepper for seasoning. That is to your own taste.
Instructions
Step 1: Place the podded peas and beans into a small saucepan of lightly salted water and boil for 5 minutes. No longer, or they will be over-cooked.
Step 2: Drain the peas and beans into a colander and rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking process.
Step 3: Now for the tedious bit! Remove the thick skins from the beans. It's easy enough to do, just time-consuming. Use a sharp knife to slit the skin of the beans and gently squeeze them - the inner bean will pop right out.
Step 4: Slice the remaining salad ingredients (lettuce, spring onions, radishes, and mint) and layer them with the beans and peas in a salad bowl.
Step 5: Place the dressing ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, honey and mustard) into a small bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Stir well to combine. You could also place the ingredients into a small glass jar (with a lid) and shake to combine.
Step 6: Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.
Tips for a successful outcome
Here are my top tips to ensure your fresh Spring pea salad always turns out perfectly:
- To save on washing up, cook the peas and beans together in the same saucepan. It's easy enough to pick out the beans to remove the skins.
- Do take the time to remove the skins from the beans. The taste and texture will be so much better.
- You should pour the dressing over the salad immediately before serving to preserve the crispness of the vegetables. Alternatively, serve the dressing separately and let everyone help themselves to a spoonful or two.
Variations
This is just the basic recipe. There are many ways in which you could vary it to suit whatever you have available:
- Add some cheese - crumbled feta or goat's cheese adds a creamy, salty contrast. Or for something sharper, add a few shavings of parmesan.
- Make it meaty - turn the salad into a complete meal by adding some meat. Crispy pancetta or bacon bits add a smoky flavour that would go well with the peas. For a more substantial meal, add some shredded cold chicken.
- Add extra vegetables - a few halved cherry tomatoes would not only taste delicious but also add a nice colour contrast.
- Swap out the greens - use a mixture of baby spinach, watercress and rocket instead of little gem lettuce.
- Add extra crunch - sprinkle the salad with a tablespoon of toasted flaked almonds, pine nuts or pumpkin seeds.
Equipment
Here are the main items of equipment you will need to make this pea and broad bean salad
- Saucepan - to boil the peas and beans
- Colander - for draining
- Small sharp knife - to help with skinning the beans
- Small bowl or glass jar - to mix the dressing
- Salad bowl - for serving
Storage
If you are making this salad ahead of time, store the salad ingredients and the dressing separately and combine just before serving.
The salad (combined with the dressing) does not store well as the dressing would be inclined to make the lettuce go limp.
Salad dressing can be stored in a screw top jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
FAQ
Yes, frozen peas and beans work well in this recipe and save on prep time. Simply blanche them in boiling water, cool, and add to the salad.
Broad beans have a very tough outer pod which opens to reveal the beans nestling in a soft velvety interior, almost like cotton wool. You can open the bean by pressing gently along the seam, which should cause the pod to pop open. Remove the beans and discard the pod.
The beans themselves have a thick, almost leathery skin, which is normally removed once the beans have been boiled.
The inner part of the bean (once the skin has been removed) has a smooth texture and a sweet, almost pea-like taste.
This is entirely up to you. If the broad beans are very young and tender, you can leave the skins on. For larger beans, you might like to remove the outer skin as it can be quite tough. I prefer to remove the skin as this gives a softer texture and a sweeter flavour.
The easiest way to remove the skin is to slit it with the point of a sharp knife, then squeeze gently and the inner kernel will slide out.
Save for later
If you would like to make this fresh green Spring salad, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.
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Related recipes
View my sides and salad recipes page for other tasty salad ideas. Here are a few you might enjoy:
📋The recipe
Green pea and broad bean salad
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Colander
- Small sharp knife
- Small bowl or glass jar for the dressing
- Salad bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 125 grams broad beans approximate weight after podding
- 1 cup / 100 grams fresh peas approximate weight after podding
- 1 little gem lettuce or other fresh lettuce
- 2 spring onions finely sliced
- 3 or 4 radishes thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint chopped
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the podded peas and beans into a small saucepan of lightly salted water and boil for 5 minutes. No longer or they will be over-cooked.1 cup / 125 grams broad beans, 1 cup / 100 grams fresh peas
- Drain the peas and beans into a colander and rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Remove the thick skins from the beans. Use a sharp knife to slit the skin of the beans and gently squeeze them - the inner bean will pop right out.
- Slice the remaining salad ingredients (lettuce, spring onions, radishes, chopped mint) and layer them with the beans and peas in a salad bowl.1 little gem lettuce, 2 spring onions, 3 or 4 radishes, 1 tablespoon fresh mint
- Place the dressing ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, honey and mustard) into a small bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Stir well to combine. You could also place the ingredients into a small glass jar (with a lid) and shake to combine.3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon honey, Salt and black pepper to taste
- Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.
Notes
- To save on washing up, cook the peas and beans together in the same saucepan. It's easy enough to pick out the beans to remove the skins.
- Do take the time to remove the skins from the beans. The taste and texture will be so much better.
- You should pour the dressing over the salad immediately before serving to preserve the crispness of the vegetables. Alternatively, serve the dressing separately and let everyone help themselves to a spoonful or two.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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