Green Split Pea and Spinach Salad

To this day, I have only ever cooked split peas (green or yellow) to make Dal.  It's what they were put on this Earth for.  It's their primary mission.  

It always weirds me out to see recipes using bacon and ham hocks paired with split peas.. or even mashed split peas (unless it's a happy hour dip).  It's just as weird to me as seeing someone eating mussels with a fork and knife.

I was actually going to make dal last night with these green split peas when the melon I was munching on started putting refreshing ideas into my head.  It persuaded me to step out of my comfort zone and try them cold.

Cold?  Eww!

I let my heart take over my brain and added all the things that would make me happy at that precise moment.

It turned out to be a glorious event.  The little cold split peas presented themselves on a whole new level to me.  They explode in flavor when cold and paired with raw, dried, and pickled things!

A completely different experience than eating them hot.  I felt like I was being introduced to someone new.

Serves 2

Ingredients

To cook:

1 cup dried split green split peas, thoroughly rinsed

4 cups water

pinch salt

few cracks black pepper

To toss:

2 large handfuls fresh spinach, rinsed and dried

1 tomato, chopped

6 sundried tomatoes, chopped

1 shallot, minced

2 Tbsp capers

6-8 pepperoncini (or as many as you're comfortable with)

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

juice from 1/2 lime

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

few pinches fleur de sel

lots of freshly cracked black pepper

nice handful cubed feta (leave out if vegan)

Directions

1.  Cook the split peas in the water with a pinch of salt and some black pepper.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the peas are tender (not mushy).

2.  Drain, rinse, and toss with everything but the spinach.

3.  To serve, place a handful of spinach at the bottom of the plate or dish, then serve the split pea salad on top.

Such simple things bring so much joy..