Spicy Sautéed Pea Vines

If you like sautéed or cooked greens in general, and spinach in particular, don’t worry if you can’t find pea vines to make this recipe. Pea vines are tender greens from the snow pea plant and are probably not widely available outside of a well-stocked Asian grocery store. While I have seen them once in such a market, and was also lucky enough to have them served to me at a Chinese restaurant once, when I made this recipe of “Spicy Sautéed  Pea Vines”, (page 373), I used spinach, an acceptable substitution per the recipe notes. You could also try watercress or Swiss chard as well.

This simple dish consists of sautéed pea vines seasoned with fresh garlic, crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper. The recipe includes 2 tablespoons of olive oil, but I left this completely out, with no need to substitute with any other liquid. Most fresh greens will release enough liquid as they are cooking with no need for additional oil or water. After eating a very low oil diet for so long, even small amounts of oil in a dish really stand out, but in my opinion, two tablespoon of oil in what ends up to be about a cup of cooked greens would be a lot! Try it without any oil, you’ll likely not miss it at all!

I love greens of any kind, cooked, raw, in soups, salads, smoothies, so I knew I would love this recipe too. The seasoning combination of garlic and red pepper flakes is a match made in heaven, and you can substitute the salt with a splash of soy sauce for a more complex flavor (like I did).

The recipe calls for a total of 15 minutes cooking time. This seems like a lot to me. When I cook spinach and chard, I take no longer than the time it makes to toss it and wilt it over medium heat, usually 3-4 minutes at most. I haven’t actually cooked pea vines before, and they might be different, but 15 minutes just sounds like too long. 

Keeping it “McDougall Friendly” checklist:

• Eliminate the olive oil altogether. Sauté in a non-stick skillet and no substitute liquid will be necessary. If not using non-stick, use as little water as possible to prevent sticking until the greens start to release their own liquid.