October 11, 2013 • Nancy Wolfson-Moche

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“Mind your p’s and q’s,” my dear mother (who faithfully follows this blog) often reminded me. I thought she was telling me to mind my “peas and cubes,” so the instruction remained a mystery. Perhaps the most common vegetable dish she served was (frozen) peas & carrots. This dish smells remarkably similar to that grounding childhood dish (root vegetables have earth or grounding energy while peas have connective energy), but it tastes quite different. The purple carrots with their tops, found early this morning at the local green market, have a rich, earthy flavor. A good way to start the day: eating peas and cubes and minding your p’s and q’s.

serves 4

INgredients

3-4 purple carrots (when chopped, about 1 ½ cups), with tops

1 ½ cups (about 8 ounces) frozen organic peas

a few pinches of sea salt

fresh ground black pepper to taste (optional)

Process   

Wash the carrots, carrot tops and peas all separately. Remove any tiny hairs and tops from carrots. I peel them with a serrated knife. Slice the carrot into horizontal ovals, about ¼ inch thick. Then cut the ovals into strips, and the strips into small squares. Set aside.

Fill a medium sized pot with water; add a pinch of sea salt and bring to a boil. When water is roiling boiling, drop in the peas. When they rise to the top remove them with a wire mesh skimmer or slotted spoon. Set aside.

Bring the water to a roiling boil again and drop in the carrot cubes. These will take less than a minute to blanch, rising to the top quickly. Remove them and set aside. Place one half of the carrots in a serving bowl;

layer about one half of the peas on top;

then add the other half of the carrots and top with the second half of the peas. Mix them. Chop the green carrot tops into tiny pieces

and use to top the dish.

Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

©Nancy Wolfson-Moche 2013