My new favorite uses for peas

I wanted to make some healthy dips for the SW Gardens kickoff day today so I went back to green pea spread. This is my new go-to dip: thaw a bag of frozen petite peas, get some seasonings, put it all in the food processor, add a little olive oil, press the whirr button. That's all. It's really good on whole wheat crackers or rye crisps. You could put it on bread bruschetta-style or even dip carrots in it. I haven't put it on pasta yet but I could I made two versions this time.

A note on frozen peas: the petite peas are much sweeter so don't get the ones just called "peas." 

Lemon Pea Dip
A vegan variation of Peas and Parmesan Dip from the Kitchen Window
Ingredients:

• 1 bag (about 10 -12 oz or so?) frozen petite green peas, thawed
• finely grated zest of one lemon
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 T olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roasted
• salt to taste

Roast the garlic. You can just put the cloves in a dry pan for several minutes on moderate heat, shaking occasionally. Don't burn them. Roasting the garlic softens and sweetens the flavor but you can also use them raw if you want it stronger. Trim any hard roots off the roasted garlic cloves. Toss them in the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Process until smooth. Adjust salt and lemon juice to taste. Sometimes I add black pepper and sometimes I don't.

Peacamole 
Modified from Clotilde at C&Z
Ingredients:

• 1 bag (about 10 -12 oz or so?) frozen petite green peas, thawed 
• a small bunch fresh cilantro (I used about half the cilantro bundle I bought at Safeway)
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 t Marion Street Garden's Flying Fish Pepper Hot Sauce (or use sriracha if you aren't lucky enough to have some from Marion Street)
• salt to taste

Trim any hard roots off the garlic cloves and coarsely chop the cilantro. Put the garlic, cilantro, hot sauce, olive oil, and 1 cup of peas in the food processor. Blend smooth. Add the rest of the peas. Process to desired texture (smooth or chunky). Adjust salt and hot sauce to taste. Eat on anything or just use a spoon. 

Look closely at the food spread from the garden party today and you can see my two bowls of pea spread behind the carrots.