I don’t know how many GALLONS of milk I drank as a child when my mom would make us eat our vegetables! The only way to choke them down was with huge gulps of milk as fast as we could without choking! And peas were the worst for me. Oh how I hated those wrinkled little green balls of icky mushiness!
It wasn’t until my early 30’s that I finally found out that they weren’t so bad! I still cannot stand regular peas, but sweet baby peas and I have made our “peas”, er, our peace. 😉 I actually love them now! But, especially cold and in this creamy, summer salad.
They have a candy-like sweet flavor and a nice crunch, and almost pop in your mouth! Mixed with a creamy dressing, cheddar cheese, sweet pickle relish, celery, chopped egg, mustard and onions, it’s a salad worthy of any special summertime picnic or event!
This also makes for a nice change of pace salad during the holidays as well. Just make sure you use the right kind of peas, sweet baby peas, also sometimes called “early peas”, and not regular peas. If you use frozen, you don’t even have to thaw them first. Stir them in frozen, last, and they hold up beautifully.
You can also used canned and drain them well first, folding them in gently so you don’t wreck them and make a mess of the salad. The whole point is to have that “pop”, or crunch if you will, when you bite into them! So delicious and refreshing! Have a wonderful Saturday and don’t forget to pack this sweet, fun salad into your picnic basket! 😀
CREAMY CHEDDAR & SWEET BABY PEA SALAD
Serves 6-8
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chopped celery
2 chopped hard-boiled eggs
1 1/2 cups cheddar cut into tiny cubes, or up to 1 (8 oz.) block for cheese lovers!
1/4 cup chopped green onion, or regular onion
3 Tbl. sweet pickle relish
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. seasoning salt, I use “Johnny’s”
1 tsp. regular table mustard
3 cups frozen sweet baby peas, uncooked and unthawed
DIRECTIONS:
In medium-sized bowl, mix all ingredients well, *except peas, until mixed and sugar is dissolved. Fold in peas. Chill to let flavors meld. *Peas will thaw on their own.
