{ just a bite to start the week }
{ raw vegan, gluten-free }
When I see fresh English sweet peas, shoots, and greens at the market, it’s always a great indicator of spring making its arrival. I literally just grabbed up a pint of peas and some pea greens this morning and whipped up this quick and easy amuse bouche.
Some of you have asked me why I don’t tend to give the exact recipes on Amuse Bouche Mondays. Well, it’s mostly because (#1) I intended for these Mondays to be a sort of fun and informal “just a bite to start the week” and, even more the case, (#2) rather than plan or “design” the amuse in advance, I like to open my pantry and refrigerator on the very morning and challenge myself to what I can come up with relatively quickly. Preparing raw food has quite a reputation of being time intensive, but does it always have to be? This is a fun way to sort of be spontaneous, and it’s great practice in creativity. This is not to say I never think up stuff in advance. I do. I just write it down in my notebook, and if the appeal sticks, I will do what prepping needs to be done. In this case, the taro chips had to dehydrate for a few hours, but you can serve these mashed peas with pretty much any vehicle you fancy.
For this little amuse, the taro chips were made by slicing the whole root with a hand-held mandoline. Then I salted them, sprayed them with olive oil, and dehydrated them for about 3 hours. With a large mortar and pestle, I mashed the peas with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, some chopped mint, a touch of curry powder, a sprinkling of sea salt, and a pinch of cayenne. That’s all. So easy, so delicious. The peas are delicate and sweet and really brighten up with the contrasting flavors of the mint, curry, and cayenne.
<3, JMK
