The great frozen Green Pea survey

Peas are a legume (plants that produce pods with seeds inside; other legumes include peanuts, bean, chickpeas and lentils) and hence not a vegetable. One of the greatest ways of eating peas is frozen straight from the freezer! Like corn, they are sweetest when harvested young and as soon as they are harvested so their natural sugars start turning into starch. Frozen peas are the next best thing to chomping them straight from the plant IMHO. Most commercially grown peas are actually frozen (good news for all consumers, not just pea gobbling monsters). Frozen peas are actually not raw but blanched as an industry practice to help maintain their bright green color. And rest assured that frozen peas do not have lower nutritional value than fresh peas.

They are a good source of some vitamins and minerals including

• protein (5.5g in 100g of peas -- compare with 8g in 100g of tofu)

• fiber (5.6g in 100g -- compare with 7g in 100g of prunes)

• iron (1.47mg in 100g -- compare with 2.7mg in 100g of spinach)

• vitamin B6

• phosphorus (20% RDA in 100g)

• phytonutrients lutein and zeaxanthin (eye health)

1/2 c/170g:

• vitamin A 34% of the RDI

• Vitamin K: 24% of the RDI

• Vitamin C: 13% of the RDI

• Thiamine: 15% of the RDI

• Folate: 12% of the RDI

• Manganese: 11% of the RDI

• Iron: 7% of the RDI

• Phosphorus: 6% of the RDI

And they are low in

• fat (1.6g in 100g)

• carbs (10g in 100g; and hence low in sugars: 1.2g in 100g)

• calories (79 cal/100g)

More details about nutritional value and benefits of peas on the "the world's healthiest foods" website.

A good frozen pea has a clean, refreshing sweetness. It tastes "creamy" (not the texture, of course). And therefore a nice healthy alternative to ice cream (and this is an ice cream fanatic talking!).

There are over 250(!) varieties of peas, a food dating back 10,000 years to Asia. In Germany, about 95,000 tons of peas are eaten (according to Iglo's website), but the three most common types of peas are

1. [Bot] (Pisum sativum sativum)

• Peas are not as round but sweet and tender.

• Pods are too tough and fibrous to eat and contain on average 7 peas.

• Many cultivars (spring peas, survivor peas, Wando peas, garden sweet....)

2. [Bot] (Pisum sativum medullare)

• Peas are smooth and round, less sweet and starchier.

3. [Bot] (Pisum sativum axiphium)

• Pods are crunchy and very tender so often eaten pod and all

As an aside, there are also snow peas (Pisum sativum var. saccharatum) which are not the same as sugar snap peas (Pisum sativum var. marcrocarpon).