Vegetable Rack Types:

1. Vegetable Rack – Hanging

The beauty of a hanging Vegetable Rack is that you will have extra counter space.  When selecting a Vegetable Rack, look for one with multiple tiers so that you will have more space.  Certain fruits and vegetables need to be kept in a separate tier from other produce.  For example, onions should never be stored next to potatoes because as the onions begin to go bad, they will produce moisture which will make the potatoes go bad.

2. Vegetable Rack – Standing

One of my friends lives in California, and she said that she prefers a standing Vegetable Rack because if there is an earthquake, she does not like to have things hanging from her walls or the ceiling.  For her, I found a beautiful stainless steel Vegetable Rack that stands on floor.  Therefore, she still had extra counter space after using the Vegetable Rack, even though it did not hang on the wall or ceiling.

Vegetable Rack – Location

So now that you have a Vegetable Rack, what is the best place to put it?  The best spot for a Vegetable Rack is somewhere that is fairly cool and dry.  You want to avoid direct sunlight or heat, because this will make your fruit and vegetables ripen and spoil faster.  However, if you have a Vegetable Rack on wheels, then you can wheel it to be in sunlight if you are trying to ripen your fruits and vegetables faster.

Ingredients:
- 1 can of peas, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 an onion, chopped
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups milk
- 1 TB butter
- 1 TB flour

Directions:
1. Cook the onion in a pot over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the peas and water to the pot and bring to a boil.  Cook for 10 minutes.
3. Warm up 1/4 cup of the milk in the microwave.  Stir in the flour.
4. Add the milk / flour mixture and the rest of the milk into the pot.
5. Cook for 10 more minutes.
6. Put an immersion blender in the pot to blend it well (or you can let it cool and put it into a regular blender).
7. If you want the soup very smooth, then strain the soup through a sieve or cheesecloth.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of peas
- swiss cheese
- 1/3 cup of mayonnaise

Directions:
1. Put the peas and mayonnaise in a food processor or blender to form your pea mayonnaise.
2. Spread some pea mayonnaise on a slice of bread.
3. Place a piece of swiss cheese on top of the pea mayonnaise.
4. Melt the cheese under a broiler or in a toaster oven.

Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups carrots, grated
- 1 can of green peas (or frozen peas cooked)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Directions:
1. Mix together all of the ingredients
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Spread it onto your sandwich. Yum!

Ingredients:
- 1 cup lima beans
- 1 cup peas
- 5 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 5 cups of chicken broth (or water)
- Salt / Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook the onion and garlic over medium heat in some oil or butter in a pot.
2. Add everything else to the pot.
3. Turn the heat high and bring the pea soup to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until the peas and lima beans are soft.

Pea Hints:

1. If you steam peas, instead of boiling peas, you lock in more vitamin C.
2. If you want to boil frozen pea, put the peas in a small pot and cover the peas with water.  Bring the pot to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for a few minutes.
3. To microwave frozen peas, add 1 TB of water for ever 8 ounces of peas in a microwave-safe container.  The pea should take 4 – 5 minutes to cook in the microwave.
4.  For a cold pea salad, you don’t even have to cook the peas.  Just defrost a bag of frozen pea.

Pea Recipes:

Cream of Pea Soup Recipe

Peas and Cheese Please – Sandwich Recipe

Peas and Carrots Sandwich Recipe

Pea, Lima Bean, Tomato Soup Recipe

Split Pea Soup Recipe (With a Touch of Rosemary)

Crunchy Pea Salad Recipe

Beet Pea Salad Recipe

Healthy Chickpea Salad Recipe

Cold Pea Salad

Canned Green Peas for the Beet Pea Salad Recipe!

Ingredients:

- 1 can of peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 can beets, diced
- 1/4 onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Miracle Whip is best)

Directions:

1. Mix together all of the ingredients.

2. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours for the flavors to meld.

Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

- 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
- 3-4 TB olive oil
- 1-2 TB lemon juice
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil and fresh parsley.

2. Make sure to press the parsley into the oil / juice mixture to release the flavor.

3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients.  Flavor with salt and pepper to  your taste.

4. Place in the refrigerator at least 2-3 hours so that the flavors will combine.

Crunchy green pea salad

Ingredients:

- 1 package frozen peas (thaw and drain the green peas well)
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
- 3/4 cup cashews, chopped
- 7 slices of bacon (optional, but HIGHLY recommended!)

Directions:

1. If you don’t want to turn on the stove because it is the summer and very hot, then feel free to skip this step… but it really adds a lot of flavor the the green pea salad.  Cook the strips of bacon in a frying pan over medium heat until the bacon is nice and crispy. Crumble up the strips of bacon to form little bacon pieces.

2.  Mix together all of the ingredients, except for the cashews and bacon.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.  Right before you serve the salad, mix in the cashew pieces and bacon crumbles.  You don’t want to add this too far in advance as they will get soggy.

Split Pea Soup (With a Touch of Rosemary)

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups split peas (I prefer traditional green split peas, but yellow split peas will work too)
- 4 cans of chicken broth (10 – 11 ounce cans)
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1-2 tsp of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 7 slices of bacon

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon slices over medium heat in the large soup pot (you want the flavors from the bacon to remain in the pot to flavor the split pea soup).  Crumble the bacon into small pieces.

2. Add the onions, carrots and garlic to the soup pot.  Cook until they are getting soft (about 5-7 minutes).

3. Add the chicken broth to the soup pot.

4. Add the split peas and fresh rosemary to the soup pot.

5. Increase the heat and bring the entire pot to a boil.

6. Turn the heat down to low / simmer.  Cover the pot and cook for 45 minutes – 1 hour.