Light and Simple Pea Salad Recipe

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Light and simple, this pea salad recipe is a great side when you need to balance dinner with a veggie!

On Sunday nights we’ve invited our kids who just left for college back home for dinner! They didn’t go far, but they are busy so we never see them. We also tell them they can bring a friend to dinner. My son always brings his roommate (we’re hoping one day he brings home a girl… haha!!). But last night, our daughter brought an entire apartment of boys! So, we had 10 people for dinner.


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I always try to provide a balanced meal, including veggies. That’s my MO. There always has to be a veggie at dinner. I prefer a green salad, but I didn’t plan ahead and we had no fresh greens. I had some frozen veggies, but that didn’t sound appetizing to me either. Then, I remembered a salad I made 10+ years ago that just used some thawed peas (cold but not frozen) with some mayo and cheese mixed in. That sounded pretty good to me, and I had the basic ingredients.. the peas, the cheese, and the mayo. As I browsed a bunch of recipes I realized red onion and bacon were part of most peoples recipes, but I didn’t have the red onion, and I did have some bacon bits, but they were old.

light pea salad recipe

I still made the pea salad without the red onion, and it turned out great. To make it “light” I simply reduced the amount of mayo and used light instead of the full calorie variety. I also reduce the cheese, and used bacon bits instead of real bacon.

To go along with our pea salad, I also made some homemade 5 minute artisan bread. My husband made BBQ Ribs, and I made some funeral potatoes (I love this recipe from Our Best Bites here).

This is the 5 minute artisan bread recipe and method I have been using for years. It’s TRULY the easiest, fool proof bread on the planet! (the book, Artisan bread in 5 minute)

We also had a list of riddles and prizes for the kids. My husband won a gift basket full of chocolates on Saturday night at a dinner we attended, so he split up the gift basket so that all the kids who came over for dinner went home with a prize! We had a really great night!

choose myplate portion control plate dinner

Here is a picture of the complete meal with the pea salad, ribs, bread, potatoes, and fruit! I used My Plate to get balanced proportions!!

The Pea Salad Recipe

Simple and Delicious Pea Salad

This yummy pea salad makes a great veggie side for any dinner.
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Course: Salad
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 97cal

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces frozen peas, thawed
  • 1/3 cup light mayo
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons bacon bits (or crumbled bacon)
  • 2 ounces cubed cheese

Instructions

  • Thaw peas under cold water and a colander.
  • Mix light mayo with apple cider vinegar and salt
  • Chop red onion and bacon
  • Chop cheese into cubes or shred
  • Mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to eat.

Notes

97 calories, 5 grams protein, 9 grams carbs, 5 grams fat

Nutrition

Calories: 97cal
Tried this recipe?Mention @healthbeet or tag #healthbeet!

Hi!  I’m Amy, creator and owner of Heath Beet. I share low calorie recipes and portion control hacks to get you eating healthier, feel lighter, and satisfied with less food, to make weight loss finally possible! (Read all about me and my health journey here!)

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