West Texas Pea Salad

West Texas Pea Salad

Ingredients

2 regular cans Le Sueur Peas in silver can (never substitute)

4 hard boiled eggs 3 finely chopped but dry, not mushy and one sliced and set aside.

1/2 white onion minced

2 stalks celery minced

Mix in enough mayo to hold it together – don’t skimp or use fake mayo. Use the real thing. I find that Hellmann's, known as Best Foods west of the Rockies, is the best store bought brand.

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Drain out all of the juice from the can before doing any mixing of the peas, mix softly with onion, celery, three of the eggs and serve topped with one sliced egg sprinkled with sweet red paprika.

Serves 4 to 6 people

History

My family has enjoyed this easy salad for several generations. From what I can find, it was served as far back as the late 50’s. It has been said that it may have first been served in my great grandmother’s home and again by my grandparents and their siblings over the years. This salad has been served liberally, as it goes with everything, at holiday events, family dinners, luncheons and more. There has been many a tale from relatives whose hands got a slap while trying to sneak a pea out of the bowl during preparation. It is critical that it be made with Le Sueur peas; we have tried others but it just does not taste the same. I know many other versions of pea salads exist – this just happens to be one from our family to yours.

Le Sueur peas were created in 1903 by the Minnesota Valley Canning Company in Le Sueur Minnesota. MVCC introduced the canning technology that allowed vegetables to be shipped greater distances. In 1907 they started to categorize the green peas locally farmed and the canned Le Sueur peas were made with early June peas from that day forward. In 1925 the MVCC introduced the Green Giant brand and their business exploded. It did so well that in 1950 the company vanished behind the success of the trademark they created and became the Green Giant Company. It was later purchased by General Mills. However, they have kept the Le Sueur peas the same since 1907.