Healthy Pea Salad Recipes

Pea shoots are the tender leaves and stems of sugar snap pea plants--not to be confused with the more delicate pea sprouts, which, like microgreens, are the sprouted seeds. Turn leftover ham into a crouton-esque topping with a quick sear in a hot pan.

This is reminiscent of a farroto, where risotto-like textures and Parmesan-rich flavor reign supreme. The yogurt adds lusciousness and tang that balances the overall savoriness of the dish. The fennel salad is bright and crisp.

This healthy salad recipe calls for tiny carrots, harvested in spring when young, with their tops still attached. If you can't find them, use 2 cups julienned carrots and substitute arugula for the carrot tops. Pea greens, also known as pea shoots, are the leaves, tendrils and flowers of a mature pea plant. Look for them at farmers' markets or Asian markets.

Typical kid-friendly fare gets a zap of fresh flavor from pesto in this easy 15-minute dinner. Make a quick creamy chicken salad with Greek yogurt, pesto and peas and serve over pan-fried polenta. Serve with a salad of greens and balsamic vinaigrette for a healthy dinner the whole family will love.

Your classic potato salad gets a bit of an update with the addition of crisp-tender cauliflower and fresh peas. Topped with a vinegar-mustard dressing, crumbled bacon and toasted pine nuts, this dish is the perfect choice for a summer barbeque.

Fresh greens, lemony vinaigrette, briny feta, and crisp radishes and pea pods all come together in this side salad that you'll want at every meal. We love Meyer lemons in this salad, but any variety will do.

You can use most types of barley for this veggie-loaded grain salad--hulled, pearled (which will cook the quickest) or hull-less. Serve this salad as a side for grilled chicken, topped with grilled shrimp or as an impressive potluck dish.

Sesame oil and nori (dried seaweed) give this healthy grain-salad recipe Asian flair. Serve as a vegetarian main dish or as a side for grilled shrimp or baked chicken.

This simple spring salad recipe combines red leaf lettuce and frisee with fresh peas and crispy fried shallots tossed with a light tarragon-infused vinaigrette dressing. The fried shallots give this salad an out-of-this-world flavor. And compared with store-bought fried onions, they have half the calories and a fraction of the saturated fat and sodium.

You get two sides in one with this dish--whole-grain barley along with crisp matchsticks of vitamin- and fiber-rich snap peas. Serve with roasted or grilled salmon or chicken.

Quickly cooked snap peas retain their distinctive crunch, becoming the star in this simple green salad.

Snow peas aren't just for stir-fries. Thinly sliced, their crunchy texture and sweet taste combine with a creamy Asian dressing to make this salad special.

Sweet, crisp and snappy, this healthy pea salad recipe is all about the sugar snaps, plus a little Aleppo pepper for some heat. The creamy sheep- or goat's-milk cheese adds a touch of richness and the edible flowers give it a gorgeous pop of color. Serve this beautiful salad alongside lemon-grilled chicken or fish.

As delicious as it is beautiful, this spring pea salad recipe is a potluck or dinner party stunner. Assemble the salad and dress just before serving--or serve the dressing next to the salad for people to drizzle. The tangy champagne vinaigrette balances the grassy sweetness of the peas and fruity pop of the berries.

Grassy, sweet pea shoots add another layer of pea flavor to this light spring salad recipe. Look for them near other sprouts or at Asian markets and farmers' markets.

This creamy pasta salad recipe with peas, ham and mushrooms is lower in calories and fat compared to a classic pasta salad. Using whole-wheat pasta and loading it with plenty of vegetables makes it as nutritious as it is delicious. If you have fresh-shelled peas on hand, use those instead of frozen peas. For the best flavor, combine the pasta salad with the dressing about 1 hour before serving.

Snap peas and mushrooms are combined with the fresh flavor of lemon in this pretty, healthy quinoa salad recipe. If you can make it ahead of time, do--this quinoa salad is even better the next day, after the dressing has soaked into the mushrooms and quinoa. (Adapted from “Quinoa Revolution” by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming; Pintail Books, 2012.)

This stunning spring salad, full of peppery radishes, sliced celery, celery leaves and crunchy snap peas, is perfect for entertaining. If you grow your own celery, you'll have plenty of leaves to work with. But we found that most store-bought celery yielded enough leaves for this recipe if you combine the dark outer leaves with the pale yellow inner leaves at the heart. If you can't collect enough celery leaves, make up the difference with extra parsley. The results will still be delicious.

This salad of snow peas, oranges and jícama is sweet, sour and full of crunch.

Perk up your dinner salad by tossing greens with snow peas, carrots and a tangy dressing.