Health Goth: Give Your Salad Extra Crunch with Toasted Oats

Welcome to Health Goth, our column dedicated to cooking vegetables in ways that even our most cheeseburger-loving, juice-bar-loathing readers would approve of. Not everyone realises this, but vegetables actually do taste good. We invite chefs to our kitchen to prove this assertion—and they do, time and time again.

Peas aren't the most exciting vegetable. Mention of them will likely conjure images of green mush lurking under newspaper-wrapped chips or the obligatory side of soggy Petit Pois that comes with every mediocre pub meal. And let's not forget the family-size bag you pull out of the freezer for soothing bruises more often than actual cooking.

But for chefs Dan Wilson and Jules Zuth, the overlooked pea is a thing of beauty.

"When you get fresh, British peas in season, they're really, really good," says Wilson. "You go from having these super sweet peas from Italy which are really light, to getting these British peas which have that sweetness but are a bit more earthy."

It's no surprise then, that over the summer season at Dandy—the East London veg-heavy restaurant that Wilson co-owns and where Zuth is head chef—peas rule. To prove this, the pair agree to show us how to make one of their favourite dishes: roasted peas with shaved courgette, salsa verde, and toasted oats.

As Wilson shells fresh peas (he promises it's worth the schlep), Zuth explains how the pair first met.

"I was working at Michelberger Hotel in Berlin and Dan came to cook one New Year's Eve," he says. "There were five different parties throughout the hotel and everyone was cooking something different. We kept in touch and tried to something fun in Berlin every year. Then I'd come to London to do stuff as well."

Wilson chips in: "New Year's Eve was a good party! I'd heard about Jules through Magnus Reid. He was like, 'You've got to come and meet this mad dog.' Before service, they were tattooing each other in the basement. It sounded like a lot of fun."

The pair remain tight lipped about exactly what went down on New Year's Eve and instead turn their attention to preparing the salsa verde.

Zuth blanches basil and parsley before setting the herbs on ice. After they're drained, he adds them to a blender along with a whole host of other delicious ingredients. In goes mint, tarragon, olive oil, grape seed oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, and salt, before blending.

"Blanching the basil and parsley makes all the difference in keeping the vibrant green colour," shouts Zuth over the noise.

With the salsa verde put to one side, Wilson says that the pair's friendship also blossomed over a shared love for veggies: "We always vibed on our philosophy for food. It's always this idea to be as creative as possible and to work as accountably as possible. So, knowing who you're dealing with, knowing who the farmers are, and to treat the produce with as much respect as the people you get it from."

Zuth adds: "I think we were bored about cooking with meat all the time. It's really refreshing to work with vegetables and then base your meat or protein around them. That's how I write the menus here."

Next, it's time for the peas to get a roasting. They go into a sieve and over the kitchen's open fire (but a cast iron saucepan over a high heat will work just as well).

"By putting them over the fire, you enhance their earthiness and pull out this charred sweetness. They start steaming from the heat," says Wilson. "It's just an interesting way of cooking them. People are surprised by the colour, texture, and flavour you get."

RECIPE: Shaved Courgette and Pea Salad

Zuth peels long strips of raw courgette and when the peas are blackened and charred, he tosses the vegetables together in a large bowl. On top of the tangle of greens goes a few generous spoonfuls of salsa verde and a squeeze of lemon juice. Once mixed, the salad is given a sprinkling of toasted oats and onion seeds.

"I'm really inspired by a chef at Michelberger who always had great ideas about texture," says Zuth. "That's where the oats and onion seeds come in. It's nice having the texture of something toasted. And it looks good."

Wilson agrees: "There's a really beautiful juxtaposition between the charred peas, sweet courgette, and the sour, bright, fresh salsa verde. The oats and onion seeds give everything a bit of a punch."

He add: "It's also just a really easy dish to put together."

Sorry Kermit, you were wrong. Being green is easy—and delicious.