smitten kitchen — Food — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 20:05:49 +0000
Summary
In this Smitten Kitchen post, Deb Perelman shares a recipe for snow pea salad with avocado, updated from a pecorino-and-walnut version in her cookbook Smitten Kitchen Keepers and inspired by a raw snow pea salad she had at the now-closed NoMad restaurant. The recipe combines raw snow peas (soaked in ice water and thinly sliced into slaw-like strands), toasted chopped walnuts, and sliced avocado, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, kosher salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Perelman recommends toasting the walnuts at 350°F for 6 to 10 minutes and adding the dressing just before serving, since the lemon juice discolors the peas over time. She presents the dish as a no-cook, low-effort option for summer heat waves. Reader comments are largely positive, with several noting successful substitutions such as almonds, pecans, or sugar snap peas.
One of my most exasperating traits — or, perhaps one that makes me ideally suited for this space I invented, coincidentally, to suit my collection of traits — is that I have a terrific amount of random ingredient preparation ideas in the overflowing file cabinet of my brain that will spill into conversations the second I hear the triggering keyword.
And today’s addition:
I know we usually think of snow peas within the context of stir-fries, understandably, as they’re excellent. But I’ve been hooked on them in raw salads after having one at the late NoMad restaurant, and I want you to be too. In Smitten Kitchen Keepers, my most recent cookbook, I’ve got a version with pecorino and walnuts but due to the loudest and most specific cravings in the last few weeks, I’m updating it, losing the cheese and pairing it with ripe avocado and three textures here — slaw-like strands of snow peas, crunchy toasted walnuts, and the soft pillows of avocado — wrapped in a lemon, olive oil, and chile flake dressing that leads to total inhalation, seriously.
Tuck this recipe away for all of the heat waves to come this summer, or for those days when if the recipe has more than three main ingredients, it exceeds the level of effort you’ve got left in your body. Or, if you’re me, every day of the last few weeks of the school year when I’m running on fumes, dreaming of lazier days.
if toasted first. I put mine on a small sheet pan in a 350°F oven for 6 to 10 minutes, until slightly darker and fragrant. Let them cool while prepping the snow peas.
Chop walnuts into rubble-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, ½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste), many grinds of black pepper, and pepper flakes to taste (I use ½ teaspoon). Whisk to combine. Add snow peas and toss until the vegetables are coated. Add avocado and gently toss until combined. Eat right away.
Do ahead: The lemon juice in the dressing discolors the snow peas a little over time, so if planning ahead, I add the walnut dressing right before serving.
6 months ago: Pumpkin Basque Cheesecake
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Erika’s Test Kitchen I literally came here looking for something to do with vegetables that would be crispy, crunchy and cooling.Bless you and your impeccable timing!
Natasha Hsi I love how your brain thinks and all of the connections it makes. I actually just wrote about making my food second brain to capture all of these connections. It is shocking actually that a good portion of my food second brain is populated by Deb recipes. Can’t wait to make this! I love thinly sliced snow peas so much because of you.
leskap19 What is a food second brain?
Janet Deb, did you stop the Friday Yap? I miss it!
deb I miss it too! I was traveling a lot this spring and have so much to catch up on. Soon!
Janet Great! Thank you!
Ellen Great! The Yap was(is?) fun! Thanks.
Sarah The 6 month wait until snow-pea season is going to feel like an age – especially after three years living in Fiji where I saw these for sale only once.
Having said that – I can see a LOT of this in my future…will have to plant extra snow-pea seeds this spring!
LitProf A flawless salad! I made it exactly as written and my family and I wolfed it down. Leftovers were delicious. Thanks, Deb!
Lydia Incredible looking! We have a walnut allergy at home. Would toasted almonds or pine nuts work with this too?
Michelle Brubaker Also curious about a nut sub.. I might try pistachios
Rachel Pecans would be tasty!
MJ Dealing with a tree nut allergy (including pine nuts). Anything not a nut that would be a decent substitute? I love the idea of snow peas and avocado.
Annie Kay I subbed slivered almonds for walnuts and it was delicious. Toasted them as suggested.
Julie Deb I have been camping in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, can’t wait to try this! Love all the ingredients and it is hot.
Vicki West Can you recommend a substitute for snow peas? My husband doesn’t care for them.
jessi Green beans, fennel or celery would work well.
Susan I love the snow peas, but allergic to avocado. What would you suggest as a substitute??
And thanks for all the cake recipes; the double chocolate cake is on my to do list.
b White beans or a mild goat cheese?
Annie Kay Just made this to test it out for a party we’re hosting in a few days. Subbed slivered almonds for walnuts but toasted them as suggested.
This salad is amazing… crunchy! creamy! yum! and not only will I be making it for the party but I’ll be making it at least once a week throughout the summer. Thank you!
Laura Loewen I made this last night, needing an easy-but- nicer-than-need-be side dish because my main dish was pretty plain. Wow, so good! Looks good on the plate, and is the most satisfying mix of textures and flavors, it’s all I want to eat right now (it’s 90 and humid).
DM This was shockingly good and is going into our summer rotation. What does the soaking accomplish? Any speedy tricks for trimming the peas and slicing them? Despite being ‘no heat cooking’, it took me a long time and I’m guessing it’s me not the recipe.
Shelly Do you think this will work with sugar snap peas? I cannot find organic snow peas and my son and I have health isssues do I am being very careful. Thanks.
Margaret I piled this salad on top of hummus on top of toasted sourdough and YUM.
Susan Made this as written and it was amazing! Cutting the peas went faster than I expected. We ate half the way it comes and tried adding burratta to the second half, which was also great! Thanks for another awesome salad!
Laurie OMG. I am spending a rare quiet evening at home alone while my daughter is at a friend’s place and I made this, thinking I’d have a little bit and save some for tomorrow. I’m polishing off the last bowl of it right now. Don’t judge me, this salad is phenomenal! I’ll be making it again as soon as I have more sugar snap peas.
M I made this last night and sorry to say I was not a fan. I did sub in almonds for walnuts and I think that was a bad idea. It needs an oiler nut. My instinct was to blanche the snow peas, but I went with raw as it followed the recipe. The combo of the dry tasting uncooked peas and the dry almonds was unpleasant. I found the lemon level a bit too high as well. I would try this again with some tweaks: cooking the peas, using a different (less dry) nut and dialing the lemon back.
Melaura I apparently grabbed sugar snap peas instead of snow peas, and used pecans instead of walnuts, but loved this salad concept! I dialed back the lemon a little bit, but overall the fresh crunch/soft avocado/toasty nuts combination is lovely.
Elizabeth Cordes The very word “snow” makes me want to try this. It’s 107 degrees here.
JP What, pray tell, are mild red pepper flakes? Is this actually some seasoning that is not spicy? Am I the only person in the world that does not enjoy spicy food, at all?
Thanks!
deb I’m a big fan of Burlap and Barrel’s Silk Chili.
Peggy P. This was delicious. I used snap peas as I couldn’t find snow peas. Put nuts on the side as some guests couldn’t eat nuts. I also added about 1 tbl of pesto which added a nice flavor to the dish.
Sherry Shockingly good description (borrowed from another post) is very accurate. I made this because I happened to have the ingredients on hand. Perfect company food or comfort food or healthy eating – a rare trifecta. My only challenge is deciding whether I like my guests enough to let them eat this or if I want to keep it all for myself. Thanks!
Original article: https://smittenkitchen.com/2026/06/snow-pea-salad-with-avocado/ Source: smitten kitchen