Sugar snap peas are one of our favorite vegetables because they’re easy to grow and even easier to eat. In French they’re aptly named “mange tout” which means “eat all”. No shelling is needed, but if the pods are stringy, remove the strings by snapping off the stem ends and then pulling the strings up the inside curves and down the outside. That’s it – now they’re ready to eat. Easy peasy.

While sugar snap peas really don’t need anything to taste delicious, sometimes we like to dress them up with goat cheese made locally by Noble Springs Dairy. Or dip them into hummus. Or steam or saute them (ever so slightly so that they don’t lose their satisfying snap) in butter, salt, and lemon juice.

However, our favorite way to eat them is the also the simplest – unadulterated and fresh off the vine. In fact, my three little pea-pickers blissfully snack on handfuls of them while “working” in the garden, making them sugar “snap, crackle, and pop” (‘em in your mouth) peas!