When I’m prepping for dinner, there’s always that one thing I’m excited to make that gets almost all of my attention and time. The meal hinges around it, and so I really want to nail it. But what of the sides? Having a list of 5-minute side dishes has been so helpful, so I can finish the thing I want to focus on, and whip up a delicious side before the main goes cold.
One of my few 5-minute side dishes that gets cooked, this pea recipe comes together just as quick as any other and with a great, fresh flavor. This side could also just be a jumping off point. So many variations can be made by only adding a few more seconds. One of mine (noted in the recipe below) is to add a couple teaspoons of wasabi powder. Really tasty and goes amazing with steak or beef roast of any kind.
If using frozen peas for this dish, you could thaw them first but you don’t need to. If you go right into the pan with frozen peas, just keep that heat up and toss frequently. It may add a minute or so to the cooking time, but it’ll still turn out great.
Honey Garlic Peas – 5-minute side
Ingredients:
- 3 cups green peas shelled, fresh or frozen
- 1 1/2 tbsp preferred cooking oil I use a mix of bacon fat and olive oil
- 1/4 cup garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp honey
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2 tsp wasabi powder optional
Directions:
- Heat a large sauté pan on medium high, adding your cooking oils. Once the oil begins to ripple, add the peas and season with salt and pepper, tossing frequently.
- After about 2 minutes, add the garlic and toss, cooking for another 1-2 minutes and tossing frequently. Add the honey and wasabi powder if using, toss and remove from heat into a serving bowl.
- Squeeze lemon juice over top, serve warm.
Made this as a side when my housemate was making steaks from us and asked me to do the veggies at the last minute – took five minutes, was delicious, and fit perfectly with the steak and potatoes! I did add a little bit of thyme to give it a different taste profile from the steak and potatoes (lots of garlic about), and that worked perfectly. Very flexible, VERY tasty! Looking forward to leftovers!
I do make this in 5 minutes, using frozen peas and minced onion (from my spice cabinet!). But I love the addition of honey and lemon. I will definitely add next time. Unfortunately, shelling 3 cups fresh peas and chopping 1/4 cup garlic would make this a 1 hour side for me!
1/4 CUP of garlic? Seems like so much! How many cloves is that? This sounds super tasty though!!
Honey Garlic Peas, emphasis on the “garlic” :) – This is probably 8 cloves or so. Not paste or finely minced, and not tightly packed in. Just a decent chop. But you can also just use as much or as little as you want!
Waiting for the response on this. I was thinking the same as I read this. Chris – is this a typo?
It’s correct! If you don’t want it to be as garlicky, you can use less.
Really !? 1/4 CUP of garlic?
That’s how much I use, but you could go down to 1 Tbsp I suppose.