Blistered Sugar Snap Peas with black quinoa, whipped feta, sesame date butter and mint

One of my favorite restaurants in the Art District of Los Angeles housed inside an art gallery named Hauser & Wirth is Manuela. The restaurant is where the edible works of art are consumed. One of my favorite dishes is the blistered sugar snap peas. This recipe is my riff of this incredible vegetable dish.

Time 1-hour

Servings 2-3

Ingredients

1 10 ounce bag of sugar snap pea, 1/4 cup black quinoa, 3.5 ounces of feta, 2 TBS cream cheese, 1 TBS sesame butter, 1 TBS Pure date syrup, 8 mint leaves, 1 TBS canola oil, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 cup of water and pinch of URFA pepper.

Preparation

Place 1/4 cup of black quinoa and 1/2 cup of water in a small sauce pan and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until quinoa is cooked.

Trim and remove strings from both sides of sugar snap peas.

When quinoa is cooked dry toast in another small skillet. Add quinoa to dry skillet on medium heat for 3-5 minutes. You will hear snapping that is your quinoa changing it’s texture to slightly crunchy and that is what you want. Careful not to burn.

In a food processor add your favorite feta and cream cheese. Whip together until smooth and creamy. A smaller food processor would be easier if you have one. My favorite feta is Valbreso. Once feta is whipped scoop out into bowl and keep in refrigerator until plating.

In a small bowl add the sesame butter and date syrup mix together then set aside.

Now you are ready to blister the snap peas. In a medium to large skillet add 1 TBS of canola oil and get pan really hot. Wait until the oil is just starting to smoke and then add the snap peas until they are blistered and coated with oil. Season with kosher salt.

Time to plate. Smear sesame date butter onto platter. Then add snap peas, toasted black quinoa, whipped feta, and gently ripped mint leaves. For a little bit of heat I sprinkled a little URFA pepper but crush peppers will work as well. URFA pepper adds a fruity heat.

Enjoy!