Edamame as a side

In their pods they look like giant peas, when shelled they look like lima beans. But they are so much better both in consistency and in flavor. Edamame are soy beans and used very frequently in Asian cuisine. We discovered them not too long ago and love them. You can find them fresh or frozen, and both in their pods and loose in a bag.

Yesterday I decided to saute some up with a scant amount of olive oil (a couple of teaspoons) some freshly ground sea salt and a very generous amount of garlic powder. Fresh garlic can be used but I love the flavor and consistency of the garlic and salt as it forms a shell of sorts on the edamame.

I poured my oil in to a non stick pan and heated it up. When the pan was hot I added the shelled edamames*, salt and garlic powder. I seasoned to taste. I let the edamame cook in the hot pan for about 5 minutes until they were nice and brown (not too dark!) on the outside. Serve immediately. (A nice Jasmine or Arborio rice would be a nice accompaniment along with a meat, poultry or fish.)


*Prior to being sauteed I had parboiled the edamame in boiling water.