halleluljah! it's finally summer. i've been craving the easiness of living that summer provides for a long time. i blamed the absence of summer for not feeling as cheerful as i normally am. normally, whenever the sun is shining, i feel like it lifts my spirits, shines right into my heart and makes me smile unvoluntarily and on end. it's happiness by default!
but truth is: the happiness by default seems to get harder with age - not easier. have you experienced the same? sure, summer helps. a lot! and i'm planning to make the most of it. i'm determined to be in a happy summery state of mind, as of now! if nothing helps, i will ride a bike, dress in stripes, go out for mojitos, swim in the lake, buy a pretzel shaped inflatable mattress, wer bare legs, sun protection that smells of coconut and only dress in sandals (i have a lot of them). so let's see how that works. i'll report back to you!
up until then: here's a thing that definitely makes me happy (and gets me in a summery mood, always): to pod peas. this salad is the ultimate summer experience. it's not summer if you haven't tried it.
sweet pea salad - from freshly podded peas - with mint
ingredients:
2 kg sweet peas *
1 organic lemon, juice
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup fresh mint leaves, minced
1 cup fresh flat parsley leaves, minced
1 tsp. fleur de sel
2 garlic cloves, minced
* a side note on peas: about 1 kilogram of whole sweet peas - pods and all - when podded, results in about 300 grams of peas, which equals about one cup.
method:
snap the peas and remove them from their pods. i used a knife to tear in the edges more easily.
heat a saucepan of salted water, and prepare a bucket full of ice water. blanch the peas in the salted water for 3-4 minutes. remember: the frozen peas that you normally get at the supermarket are mostly already pre blanched! so the cooking process takes longer for fresh, raw peas. strain, and put immediately in the ice water to cool. the ice water helps the peas to keep their popping green. make a dressing out of the lemon juice, olive oil, fleur de sel and garlic cloves. combine with the peas.
add the herbs, stir to combine and serve.
I love peas & I also agree that happiness is more deliberate when you are older (ie you need to choose to be happy). That was my lesson to myself these last couple of days anyway :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful as always x
Mmm, a favourite dish of mine. So Nice and fresh.
ReplyDeletesadly, this picture (of the peas) has been used without my permission on another site, and some of the words, and the recipe, too. i'm stung.
ReplyDelete