Yellow Field Peas

These are yellow field peas.  The sales lady at Nash's Organic Produce though I would like them, so I purchased a bag and turned them into a pea with ham hock soup in the slow cooker.  She was right, they were amazing!

Their flavor was earthy and warm, more subtle then green split peas, but substantial enough to hold up against the more robust ham hock.  Dried peas have a similar nutritional profile to legumes: high in protein, fiber and a good source of folic acid, phosphorus, iron, magnesium and potassium.

To prepare field peas:

• Wash and sort beans, looking for bad peas and stones.  Notice in the above picture how similar the rocks look to the peas.
• Cover with water, 1-2 inches over the top of the pea.
• Cook with kombu to break down undigestible polysaccharides and reduce intestinal gas
• Cooking times vary with preparation method.  Use a pressure cooker or slow cooker or simmer them on the stovetop.

Have you ever had whole field peas?

Farmer's Market Lunch

Ben and I have been heading off to the Ballard Farmer's Market with some regularity again.  We used to go every Sunday but somehow got derailed last October.  We go to the farmers market before going to the grocery store so we can get the freshest possible produce and last Sunday, when we came home from the market, we realized that the only food in the house was what we just bought so we made a simple scramble for lunch.

Here's where we bought our food:

Stokesberry Sustainable Farm: Eggs

Wilson Fish: Smoked Salmon

Port Madison Farms: Goat cheese

Sea Breeze Farm: Raw milk tea*

Miro Tea: Assam

Kale tops from our garden!

How much local food do you eat?  Where do you shop?

* Consuming raw and unpasteurized milk carries an increased risk of illness