Water Chestnut Pea Salad

The garden called me back. Not literally — gardens don't talk, though Earl's tomatoes have always had opinions — but in the way that growing things call to you when you've been sitting too long. Six weeks post-surgery. Two titanium knees. A walker I have retired and a cane I have promoted, and this morning I walked out the back door, down the two steps that Denise has been threatening to replace with a ramp, and I stood in the garden for the first time since February.

The okra is up. Denise planted it in April while I was in the recliner giving instructions through the kitchen window, which she says is the most irritating way to garden and which I say is the most efficient. The tomatoes are coming — green still, hard and stubborn, not ready. Like me. Not ready but coming. The peppers are small and shiny and perfect, and I touched one and it was warm from the sun and I stood there with my hand on a pepper plant and my feet on the earth and my titanium knees holding me up and I thought: this is what coming back feels like. Not the stove. Not the skillet. The dirt. The dirt under my fingernails and the sun on my neck and the smell of Savannah in June, which is marsh and salt and something green and alive.

I pulled three weeds. That's all — three weeds. Denise came outside and said, "Mama, what are you doing?" I said, "Gardening." She said, "You're supposed to be resting." I said, "Denise, I have been resting for six weeks and if I rest any more I will become furniture." She went back inside. I pulled two more weeds. Five weeds total. A revolution.

Made fried okra tonight — not from the garden, it's too early, but from the Kroger, which is not the same but is close enough when you slice it thin and dredge it in cornmeal and drop it in oil that's hot enough to mean business. Michael ate four pieces and asked for more. Pearl watched from the high chair with her three expressions — surprise, consideration, approval. The Pearl review. She approved the okra. She is seventeen months old and she has better taste than most adults I've met.

The garden is back. The kitchen is back. The knees are titanium and the woman is original and the okra is from Kroger but the love is homegrown. It always has been.

Now go on and feed somebody.

Earl passed in 2019 on Valentine’s Day. The small widow-life is in its small seventh year now. The small house in the small Thunderbolt-neighborhood of Savannah near the marsh continues to be the small Dorothy-residence. The small house is the small place Earl maintained and where Earl built the small raised-bed-garden. The small kitchen is the small heart of the small house.

The small thirty-five years at the small Hodge Elementary School cafeteria are the small career-spine of Dorothy’s life. The small lunch-lady role had been the small everyday-presence for the small generation of Savannah kids. The small retirement in 2020 had been the small adjustment-period after the small thirty-five-year-tenure. The small Sunday-spread-at-the-Thunderbolt-house for the small grandkids is the small post-retirement-rhythm.

The small First African Baptist Church congregation continues to be the small social-and-spiritual home. The small Wednesday-night-prayer-meeting. The small Sunday-morning-service. The small choir Dorothy has sung in for thirty-two years. The small church-cookouts where Dorothy’s small contributions are the small expected-presence.

Fried okra was supper, but it’s the cold sides I keep coming back to — the ones that come together while the oil’s still hot and don’t ask much of your feet. This Water Chestnut Pea Salad is one of those: crisp, cool, and ready before you’ve finished setting the table. Denise made it for me during the weeks I couldn’t stand more than ten minutes at a stretch; now I make it myself, and that is exactly the point.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes (includes 30 minutes chilling) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) can sweet green peas, drained
1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Drain well. Drain the peas and water chestnuts thoroughly and pat them dry with a paper towel so the dressing doesn’t water down.
Combine the vegetables. In a medium bowl, stir together the peas, water chestnuts, celery, and red onion.
Whisk the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until smooth and fully combined.
Toss and coat. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and fold gently until everything is evenly coated. Taste and adjust salt or pepper as needed.
Chill before serving. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The flavors settle and the salad gets properly cold — don’t skip this step.
Serve cold. Give it one more gentle stir before spooning onto plates. Good beside fried okra, grilled fish, or anything else coming off the summer stove.

Nutrition (per serving)

Water Chestnut Pea Salad — A Cool Garden Side for When You’re Coming Back to Yourself