This Purple Hull Pea and Pickled Okra Salad is a tangy, simple side dish that uses fresh peas, tomatoes, and spicy pickled okra. It is bursting with fresh summer flavor and is a new favorite side dish of mine!

This Purple Hull Pea and Pickled Okra Salad is part of week 3 of our Sweet Cayenne Veg Fest! Earlier in the week, I shared a recipe for Spicy Refrigerator Pickled Okra, which is what I used to make this salad. Be sure to check out other yummy, veggie-centered recipes in the series like Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes and BLT Panzanella Salad!

Earlier this summer, Ryan and I planted these purple hull peas from seed. We have absolutely LOVED the seeds we purchased from Botanical Interest - they have been really easy to grow and have produced an abundance of delicious peas! I really love the fact that the pea plant has a compact growth habit - you don't need to stake it or grow up a trellis. It just vines down the side of our raised garden bed and looks really pretty! To celebrate our first year growing (and eating!), these peas, I wanted to develop a recipe that showcased them in a seasonally-appropriate way that is great for hot summer weather. A cold, tangy pea salad with crunchy pickled okra and juice tomatoes (also from our garden) sounded like just the thing. Let's walk through how I made it...

Ingredients for Purple Hull Pea Salad and Pickled Okra Salad

Fresh or frozen purple hull peas - fresh peas like this are on sale at the farmer's markets all summer long. You could also substitute with lady peas, crowder peas, or black-eyed peas. Since the peas are simmered in water until tender for chilling in this salad, you can also use frozen peas if you can't find fresh ones.
Pickled okra, plus some pickling liquid - you can try this easy Spicy Refrigerator Pickled Okra for this salad or just buy some spicy pickled okra at a farmer's market or grocery store. I love to use pickling brine in my salad dressings, so we are getting extra use from the okra pickling liquid by doing just that!
Fresh cherry tomatoes - the tomatoes I used in this recipe are the Bumble Bee blend that we grew from Botanical Interest seed. The plant has produced amazingly well and we will certainly plant these next year!
Fresh dill - to enhance the flavor of the dill from the pickling liquid, I'm also adding some fresh dill to the vinaigrette I use to dress the salad.
Dijon mustard - I love using Dijon mustard as an emulsifier to that holds together the vinegar and oil in salad dressings. In addition to that role, the mustard adds a mild tanginess that pairs really well with the peas, tomatoes, and okra.
Olive oil - we will use a bit of olive oil for the dressing in this pea salad, which will add great flavor and some heart-healthy fats as well.
Salt, sugar, black pepper - each of these will be used to taste to season the vinaigrette.

Ways to Serve Purple Hull Pea and Pickled Okra Salad

This salad is perfect to serve at a picnic or BBQ because it becomes more flavorful as it sits for a few hours and is delicious when served chilled. It's portable, can be made earlier in the day, and tastes delicious with so many things! The peas are a great sources of fiber and folate, so it can add balance to a lot of meals you would make in the summertime. Some of my favorite items to serve it with include:

Pulled pork barbecue or brisket
Fried chicken
Peach BBQ Chicken Kabobs
Grilled Sausage, Corn and Zucchini Kabobs
BLT sandwiches
Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes
Rotisserie chicken

And I'm sure you can think of more yummy ways to serve it! Try it while fresh peas are in season and let me know what you think!

Are you ready to make this Purple Hull Pea and Pickled Okra Salad? I’m so excited for you to try this recipe. Once you get the chance to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below. This will help me with the creation of future recipes! I’d also love to feature your creation in my monthly newsletter, so you can upload a photo to Instagram or Twitter with the tag @sweetcayenne5 to be featured!

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