Green Peas and Edamame Spread

The menu is one of the key aspects to nail down while planning a party. I like a connect in some form between the different courses of the meal. This time, I planned a photography themed party and was thinking about the appetizers. Crostinis set a great tempo to start the meal. I wanted something vibrant and green to contrast with my toasted bread and decided to use peas for my topping. Naming the spread as ‘Smile Peas’ gave me a theme connect as well. When I went to the frozen section in the grocery store to pick up green peas, I came across a frozen packet of edamame beans. Though I had never worked with it before, I knew this would enhance the green factor in my spread. Edamame is a young soybean that has been harvested before the beans have had a chance to harden. It has quite a lot of health benefits apart from being high in proteins and essential amino acids. This spread was served on wholegrain bread, herb and garlic bread, and honey and oats bread which were cut into crescents. It turned out quite tasty and the texture works perfectly for a spread.

Recipe Details :
Serves: 8-10 pax
Time: 20 mins
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients :

• 2 cups frozen/fresh peas, cooked and cooled
• 1 cup edamame beans, cooked and cooled
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt as needed

• Combine green peas, edamame beans, grated garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil in a processor and blend well until everything gets combined into a smooth puree. There should not be any lumps.Season well with salt.
• The spread is ready to be applied on your toasted bread.

Tips:

• You can make this spread a day in advance. It keeps well in the fridge for 1-2 days.
• Cook the edamame and peas in salted boiling water and then shock them with an ice bath to preserve the green colour.