By Niveditha Kalyanaraman
November 12th, 2023
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Gone are the days when mushy peas were a dinner staple. Now, fresh peas are served in salads or even as a snack, and certain types of peas are great in stir-fries. The pods and seeds we know as peas are organized into three main categories. Within each grouping, there are several different pea varieties, each of which has different characteristics and growth preferences. Here are 7 different types of peas.
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The pods of English peas are far too tough to consume, therefore time must be taken to split the pods open, freeing the peas and making their nutrition accessible.
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More often than not, peas are seen as a harbinger of spring, with their bright green coloring and fresh taste evoking feelings of longer days and sunny warm weather. Snow peas march to the beat of their own drum though and grow happily in cooler weather. They can even survive through frost and snowy conditions, hence their name!
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Where the pods of English peas are thin enough to highlight the plump peas within, sugar snap pea pods are thick and rounded, completely disguising any presence of peas inside! Just like snow peas, sugar snap peas have edible pods, therefore these thick pod walls are a welcome treat.
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These legumes, while sometimes used in their fresh form, are typically dried and sold like any other dried beans. In addition to being a quality food source for humans, many types of field peas also serve a role as livestock feed.
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Young pigeon peas are fairly similar in shape and size to English peas and have a lovely bright green coloring and a nutty, mildly sweet flavor. When allowed to mature and dry however, they turn light brown and take on a mottled appearance, developing a flavor more like other dried beans.
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Chickpeas are most often available dried and bagged or pre-cooked and canned, ready to deliver a creamy, satisfying texture to your next meal.
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This is one type of pea which is not edible. Instead, the “sweet” refers to the saccharine aroma released by the flowers of the sweet pea plant, not to the flavor of the seed pods themselves.
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