recipe
Arakas Lemonatos (lemony peas)
By: Eleni Saltas
There’s not a vegetable I pushed aside more than peas. Creamed, steamed, or paired with beans, it didn’t matter how they were prepared, peas never made it to my mouth. That was in my picky eating era–which wasn’t too long ago. Now here I am featuring peas as a star ingredient in this recipe. Lemony peas, or arakas lemonatos in Greek, shine bright alongside cubed potatoes and fresh herbs in this healthy dish you’ll never turn down.
Prep Time:
5min
Total Time:
30min
Servings:
2-4
Good For:
Dinner/Lent
Ingredients
- 16 ounces peas (fresh or frozen)*
1 leek, thinly sliced (alternatively you can use ½ diced yellow onion)
6 spring onions, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 medium potatoes (about 2 cups) peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
1 ½ cups vegetable broth
½ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
Zest of one lemon
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon), or more to taste
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
For the leeks: Use just the white and a small portion of green parts of the leeks, cut into thin rounds. Leeks have many layers, so place your cut leeks into a colander and rinse well.
Step 2
In a large pot, heat olive oil over low heat and add leeks and spring onions and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and potatoes to the pot and season with salt. Cook until the vegetables are soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Step 3
Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Once you’ve reached a boil, cover the pot and turn down the heat to low to medium and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Gently stir in the peas and dill to the pot and simmer until the peas have cooked and warmed through. If using frozen peas, that should only take 5-10 minutes. Fresh peas will need about 20 minutes. Don’t overcook the peas, as they’ll lose their nutritional value and color.
Step 5
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest. Garnish with dill and serve warm with bread.
I’m not a fan of peas either but I will definitely try this.
Awesome! let me know what you think 🙂
It’s perfect! Thank you for this great recipe. Greetings from Vienna, Austria.
oh my hi to you in Austria, thank you for the love! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂