I am always on the look out for easy and exciting healthy snack options. Perishable items are usually the healthiest snack options. When I am at home, I traditional go to the refrigerator for my snacks. However, when I am on the go it is hard to have perishable items with me to snack on. Finding non-perishable healthy snacks can be very difficult sometimes. Over the years I have come up with some good healthy, non-perishable, snack options and I wanted to make sure I included some of these recipes in my blog.
I am big fan of Asian spices, especially hot Asian spices. Wasabi is one of my favorite spices and I like to incorporate it into a lot of my dishes. Wasabi is most commonly used as a condiment. It is very popular in Japanese dishes, including sushi. Sushi diners traditionally use a dab of the condiment on top of the sushi roll, which is then dipped into soy sauce (sometimes blended with yet another dollop of wasabi).
Wasabi has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and cancer reducing properties. It is full of anti-oxidants and has been used to treat respiratory problems. Wasabi contains fiber, protein and is low in cholesterol. it contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. It is rich in vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin A and vitamin B6.
Wasabi and peas are a well know combination. You can find wasabi covered peas in just about any grocery store. They are extremely flavorful, reasonably priced and easy to travel with. The only problem I have with the store bought wasabi peas is that there are a lot of ingredients for something that could be and should be so simple. Some contain palm oil, most include various flours, and almost all contain sugar. For me I just want the pea and the wasabi, nothing else. So I decided to make my own wasabi covered peas.
Peas can be purchased in various forms. They come fresh, dried, canned, frozen and freeze dried. For my wasabi pea recipe I decided to use freeze dried peas. Freeze dried peas have a wonderful crunch, they keep well and are the perfect pea to be covered in wasabi. If your local grocery or health food store doesn’t carry freeze dried peas then here are some online retailers that do: Amazon, Thrive Life, Nuts.com and Harmony House.
Much like peas, wasabi comes in various forms as well. Wasabi can be purchased in its whole form, paste form or powdered form. For my wasabi pea recipe I decided to use the powdered form of wasabi. Powdered wasabi is easy to use and usually has no additional ingredients (paste wasabi often has a long list of ingredients). Most grocery stores carry wasabi powder. However if your grocery doesn’t here some online retailers that do: Bulk Foods, Eden Foods and Amazon.
Since the freeze dried peas are very dry they need to be coated in something that will allow the wasabi powder to stick to them. My first thought was to use my favorite spray oil, which is coconut oil. Spray coconut oil gives the peas the right amount of coating for the powder to stick. It also provides a flavor that works best in line with the pea and wasabi flavors. For this recipe you can use any type of spay oil that you like and have on hand. The recipe makes 1 cup of wasabi covered peas.
Wasabi Covered Peas
1 cup of freeze dried peas
1 tablespoon of wasabi powder (more if you want it spicier)
A spray or two of coconut oil (or spray oil of your choice)
Add freeze dried peas to a plastic resealable bag (sandwich, quart size or gallon size all work fine). Spray the peas inside the bag. Sprinkle in the wasabi powder and seal bag. Toss peas around in the bag for a minute or so. Add more oil and powder as needed or preferred. Remove peas from bag and they are now ready to be enjoyed!
Prairie Pepper 