Minted Cauliflower and Pea Shoot Salad
Fresh, spring flavors of pea shoots and mint are paired with some lightly charred cauliflower in this pea shoot salad. It’s just Spring in your mouth! Put it together in just a handful of minutes, and enjoy. Serve as in, or on a bed of lettuce for some additional body. Or you can serve with hummus and pita to make it a more filling meal.
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What are Pea Shoots?
Just about every time I go to the grocery store these days, a pack or two of pea shoots (aka pea tendrils) falls into my grocery cart. It’s a delicious problem, and I’m not too mad about it. There’s something about the whimsical, delicately swirling, spring green shoots that I just can’t resist. Pea shoots are the young leaves, stalks, and tendrils of pea plants, picked before they grow larger and tougher, and produce peapods. They have a flavor very similar to peapods, but with an entirely different texture. Pea shoots (when young enough), are soft and delicate. Texturally, they remind me a little of baby arugula, but with less leaf and a more stem. They are in their best season during the spring and early summer. Typically, I remember only being able to get pea tendrils at farmers markets, but lately I’ve been finding them at my regular grocery store too, as they become more of a mainstream vegetable (fun fact- the peapod is actually the fruit of the pea plant!)
Pea shoots have been eaten in Asia cuisines for thousands of years. They can be eaten raw or cooked- we’ve used them raw in this recipe, but if you do plan on cooking yours note that pea shoots only need a short cook time. If you do have older, tougher pea tendrils, you will probably do better if you cook them.
Pea shoots have a good amount of fiber and protein and are low in calories. They’re also incredibly high in vitamin K, as well as good amounts of vitamins C, A, and K. Additionally, they contain a good amount of folate, riboflavin, and thiamin. While they contain smaller amounts of other minerals, they are a great source of manganese, as well as a rich source of the flavonoid beta carotene.
Looking for Pea Recipes? Try one of these!
- Garlicky Lacto-Fermented Snap Peas Snack
- Sauteed Za’atar Pea Shoots
- 15-Minute Sesame Roasted Snap Peas
- Pea Tendril Vegan Pasta Salad with Orange Dressing
Looking for Spring Salads? Try one of these!
- Carrot Tops Tabbouleh with Kamut
- Sesame Cucumber Spring Vegan Millet Recipe
- Rhubarb Mint Salad
- Fennel and Apple Salad in Belgian Endive Cups
- Wood Sorrel, Jicama, and Beet Slaw
How to Make Cauliflower and Pea Shoot Salad
To make this salad, you have to take a few minutes to cook your cauliflower, chop a few things, and that’s it! To cook your cauliflower we’re going to use the broiler on our oven. This makes it so the cauliflower cooks quickly, with a little charring, but still leaves the cauliflower fairly crunchy. Cut the cauliflower into slices, about one inch thick, so they’ll be really quick to flip over halfway though. Place them on a baking sheet, with a few garlic cloves, and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Throw them under the broiler for just long enough to see some charring. Flip, and repeat.
Once the cauliflower are cooked, it’s chopping time! Roughly chop the cauliflower into small pieces, and mince the garlic. You’re also going to chop the pea tendrils, scallions, mint, onion, and grate some ginger. Throw that all in a bowl, and dress with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. As a side note- if you happen to have some smoked salt or olive oil around, that smoky flavor works really well here. I highly recommend you sub that in.
You can eat this salad right away, but I actually think it improves by sitting in the fridge overnight. It’s also pretty phenominal in a pita with some hummus. No matter how you eat it, serve up your cauliflower and pea shoot salad and enjoy!
Minted Cauliflower and Pea Tendril Salad
Ingredients
- 1 small or medium head of cauliflower
- 2 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for roasting
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 oz. pea shoots
- 2 scallions
- ½ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
- ½ small onion
- ½ tsp. grated ginger
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1-2 lemons, juiced
Instructions
- Turn your oven broiler on high. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and chop it into inch thick slices. Place them on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Tuck the garlic cloves onto that pan as well, and place it in the oven. Watch the cauliflower, and once it starts to brown and char a little, take it out and flip. Return to the oven, let the second side brown, and remove from the oven.
- Let cool a little, and then roughly chop the cauliflower into pieces about the size of a quarter or smaller. Place them in a bowl. Mince the garlic, and add to the bowl as well. Chop the pea tendrils to about ½ inch long. Chop the scallions, and chop or rip the mint. Finely dice the onion, and grate your ginger. Add all the vegetables to the bowl. Top with 2 tbsp. olive oil, nutritional yeast, the juice of one lemon, and some salt and pepper. Taste, and more lemon juice and salt and pepper as desired. Serve slightly warm, or let chill in the fridge.
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