Try these sweet, tender vegetables in a salad, side dish, or stir-fry, or eat them raw as a snack. Garden or English peas must be shelled before eating. Edible-podded peas include the popular sugar snap pea and its kin, as well as flat snow peas. Before it grows pods, the pea plant produces pea shoots, dainty, curling tendrils that are edible.

In Season: Sugar snap peas, snow peas, and garden peas are available during spring and fall.

What to Look For: Choose plump, crisp pods with a bright-green color. Pea shoots should be entirely green and leafy. Pick them in the morning, when they're most sturdy; gently pinch some off, taking care to leave the main stems of your pea plants intact.

How to Store: Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 3 days. Pea shoots don't keep for long. Plan to use them the same day you pick or buy them. Store in the refrigerator.

This smooth, sophisticated pea and parsley soup is an homage to the season. It gets body from creme fraiche and a salty snap from orbs of golden caviar.

This lively combination of flavors, colors, and textures is just as fun to make as it is to eat. Not warm enough to grill yet? You can make this recipe in the broiler instead.

Use homemade or store-bought basil pesto for this amazingly easy side dish that packs a flavorful punch.

When time is tight, nothing beats a 30-minute meal of browned tender chicken and fresh snap peas made in a single skillet.

Three varieties of fresh spring peas -- English, snow, and sugar snap -- mingle with new potatoes in a light glaze of minty lemon butter.

Toss crisp ribbons of snow peas with a Dijon vinaigrette and a handful of fresh tarragon for a refreshing, out-of-the-ordinary spring side dish.

Wilted lettuce and peas is a classic side dish. This hearty version is substantial enough for a lunchtime main course.

The silky texture of this custard is an elegant vehicle for the subtle flavor of peas.

This fresh update of English mushy peas gets its zesty zing from basil vinaigrette.

A lighter take on Greek avgolemono, this soup features not only peas but their tendrils. Instead of being used to thicken the broth, the eggs are swirled in to form strands.

Mix up your meatloaf routine with the addition of Asian flavors -- snow peas, ginger, and rich sesame oil.

Spice up tonight with this must-taste mix of gingered sirloin, rice, and snaps in less than a half-hour -- chopsticks are optional.

The salty umami tang of prosciutto complements sweet spring peas in this fresh and simple hors d’oeuvre.

Spring vegetables and fresh herbs get a buttery complement from avocado in this easy pasta dish.

Toasted almonds lend a satisfying crunch to a simple dish of sauteed sugar snap peas.

Green peas shine in a soup that gets tang from buttermilk, depth from vermouth, and body from a Yukon Gold potato.

A turn on the classic combination of peas and mint, this vibrant salad intersperses whole leaves among spring greens, while torn leaves invigorate the lemon vinaigrette.

Steaming fish on a bed of basil gives it a wonderful flavor without adding calories, while a mix of sugar snap peas, snow peas, and English peas add a breath of spring.