Peas--You Either Love 'Em or Hate 'Em

Green peas.  What can I say?  You either love 'em, or hate 'em.  Growing up, we loved peas.  In fact, my Grandma Marcene made the best peas EVER.  They were laden with margarine and salt--and let me tell ya, we couldn't get enough of her peas!

As an adult, I still love peas.  But to be  frankly honest, sometimes I get tired of them.  I haven't quite perfected my grandmother's salt-to-margarine-to-peas ratio, either.  So some nights, it's like "Seriously, why did I put peas on the menu?  I'm bored with peas!"

But lately, I've been running into a new issue.  It's so hot that I just don't want warm side dishes.  Luckily, I stumbled across a new way to prepare green peas (score!) and it is a refrigerated dish (double score!)...and you should have most of the ingredients on hand.  In fact, it blends the best of many worlds: bacon, ranch and cheese!

BACON RANCH PEA SALAD
Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 quart water
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen green peas
• 1/3 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup Ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1.  Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

2.  Bring the water to a boil in a pot.  Boil the peas 1 minute, until just tender, and drain. Cool peas under cold running water.

3.  In a bowl, toss together bacon, peas, onion, Ranch and cheese.  Refrigerate 30 minute or until chilled before serving.