Fresh Peas in the pod

"There's been so much rain in June and July, it's really hurting our crops. By this time, corn should be coming in and peas long gone. Instead, the corn is only half way up, and the peas are still here."

I was standing in front of an organic farm's stall at the Kendall Square Farmer's market on a sunny Thursday afternoon in mid-July. The farmer was picking through a basket of organic pea pods.

"The dark spots you see on the outside, that's just water damage. The peas on the inside are perfectly fine. It just doesn't look pretty, so people don't want 'em."

He then picked up a raw pod, shelled it, and poured the little peas into his mouth. I think I'd had fresh peas in salads at restaurants before, but I had definitely never seen them at a market before. I didn't know how to crack the shell, how to prepare them, how to do anything with them.

"Here, you try it. They're good."

So, I picked up a pod, cracked it open, and tried, for the first time in my life, fresh, raw peas out of the pod.

Wow. What a contrast to frozen or canned peas (man, forget canned peas, those are disgusting). These peas were not mushy at all. Instead, they had a fresh "crunch" to them (if that's the right word). I loved the texture of these fresh peas. Furthermore, the fresh peas were so sweet, they reminded me of sugar snap peas.

On the spot, I bought a pound of these fresh, organic peas in the shell. At $5/lb, they weren't cheap. The rest of the work day, I kept sneaking in handfuls of peas into my mouth while I was working. I must have looked kinda funny.

You know you've found a perfect snack when you can't stop eating a raw vegetable at work.