It dawned on me, I have very few side dishes that are a perfect match for seafood. When I eat codfish or salmon, I like to keep it simple; let it taste like fresh fish is supposed to taste. A little salt and pepper, maybe some fresh lemon juice and a little dill, a light white sauce on special occasions, but that’s about it.

Now my caramelized carrots make a great side dish for seafood, but most carrot dishes do. I also love my Roasted Lemon Potatoes, but they’re not for everyone. Leeks are also perfect (should be doing my braised leeks recipe sometime). But I wanted to try something different this time.

I was served mashed peas with salmon once. Liked it, but it wasn’t spectacular or anything, plus I thought it a little too starchy and sweet. There’s also my Kayotic Mash part I, which I absolutely love; but it has a more outspoken and peppery flavor due to the basil, making it very suitable for steaks or other red meat but not so much for fish.

So what if I ……

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1 large onion
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp sour cream
flat-leaf parsley
pepper
salt

Directions:

As always, start by peeling and cutting the potatoes. Wash them and drop them in a large pot filled with salted water. Sorry; water – potato. Had to make that shot, it’s stronger than I am :)

Chop a large onion, add it to the potatoes and also add a large garlic clove. Because you boil the onions and garlic along with the potatoes their flavor will mellow. Boil everything for about 25 minutes. They have to be thoroughly cooked.

There’s no reason not to use frozen peas. Lemme rephrase that, in my book there’s no reason to use fresh peas—they have absolutely no benefits over frozen peas, quite the contrary; frozen peas have a better color, more flavor and contain more nutrients than fresh peas.

Just put them in a bowl and add 1 or 2 cups of steaming hot water. Just to get rid of the cold.

I wanted to use a fresh yet earthy herb so I went with flat-leaf parsley. Love the stuff. Whenever a recipe calls for coriander; I use parsley. It gives a unique flavor and a bit of structure. Not only does chewing parsley helps bad breath, but did you know that crushing a few leaves and rubbing them on a mosquito bite also reduces the itching?

Use as much (or little) as you like. I washed & dried it and gave it a rough chop.

After about 20 minutes, check the potatoes to see if their done. If they are, add the peas to the water and bring everything back to boil, cook for 3 more minutes. This is why I wanted you to rinse the peas with hot water; if you would have added frozen peas it would have taken quite a while for it come back to a boil.

Now without giving it a second though, I replaced the cutting blade with my whisk.

Drain the vegetables and transfer them to your food processor or simply use your blender. I never use butter, cream or cream cheese in my mashed potatoes, if you want to, add those as well. However, I do like a little pizazz to it so I’ve opted for a few tbsp sour cream. I just love the fresh flavor and creaminess it gives without turning it into a huge calorie bomb. You can also use a reduced fat version. Add a good bit of pepper and pulse.

Then I noticed I added the whisk. Even though it looked good, this is not what I was after.

So I switched blades and gave it a few more blitzes. Now this is more like it. Before you frown and say “but but but, it’s it’s it’s … it’s GREEN, woman“. Yes, it is! Pretty, no?  Work with me here, guys … imagine this on a pristine white plate with a beautiful piece of pink grilled salmon, some bright yellow lemon slices on the side, couple of extra green peas or a salad. The colors will jump right off your plate! Colors are good, colors are your friends :)

I love how this looks. I really do.

Now all that’s left to do is check the seasoning and add the parsley. I just stirred it in.

It came out tasting so good. Just enough pea flavor to make it a little sweeter and more interesting to eat, the herbs gave it more than enough zing and the sour cream made for a slight tang. Perfect balance without overruling the flavor of the fish.