I've had green gandules before (the canned/frozen ones are usually the green ones and not the dried ones, BTW), but never in the shell. Like regular green peas.

D, like Writersblock said I never had it in the shell. I would eat them as a salad putting anything or everything that you want or have, olive oil, lemon or vinegar, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, shredded veggies like carrots, green onions, red or shallots, if you like garlic, fresh herbs if you have them, or dried like oregano, spices that you like with heat or no heat. With any beans possibilities are endless. Enjoy your harvest!

Silvia

Silvia, I opened a shell and ate a few green the other day, and they were YUMMY! I thnk your idea of a salad is good, but I may toast them a bit with garlic butter first. They would be great in a chopped salad, and I haven't had that in awhile, so I'll make one tomorrow.

D, I would cook them first so your idea about toasting them is good. When I was in Nice we took a walking tour of the city where they showed us the farmers market and the fava beans and a lot of people did not know what they were, and the guide said they eat it raw in a salad, I thought that she made a mistake since I only had them cooked. That night I had it in a restaurant and they were raw and to my surprise good.

Silvia

I ended up deep frying them in coconut oil. Not so great but I ate them as a snack. Think I'll just toss the green ones into a salad next time. They're pretty good raw.

Those look wonderful! Congrats on your harvest!

How many plants do you have? Are they easy to grow? I have been considering buying some seeds the past few months, but don't know anything about them. Someone on Ebay has small plants for sale that I was considering. Would they produce from seeds just as fast? Any advice you could provide would be appreciated.

Did they taste at all like green soy beans?

sharon, I have that one, one I use as a nurse plant and chop-and-drop contributor for my banana (I don't let it get peas on it) and I planted more seeds. Two have come up and are just babies now, but I expect to have peas on them by the end of summer. This one is now starting to bloom again to put out a second crop. It's still a baby itself, only a year old, just a year old, so I'm happy I got even a few off of it. It didn't get any damage this winter at all, which is unusual, so I'm told.

My neighbor is Puerto Rican and grows numerous Pigeon Trees, bushes. She only picks them when the pods turn dry and brown. She cooks them with rice. She gave me a bowl of yellow rice with pigeon peas which was so delicious I ate the entire bowl not sharing with my husband.

She said they are used in place of rice and beans. She cooks them with rice. Best I ever tasted. She gave me some to plant which I plan to do.

I believe they are used like beans.

Jane

Jane_ny, some people prefer to let them dry and store them for future use, and I will do that with some of them, but I like them green. Just never had eaten them green other than out of a can before. I've been eating them for years, though. I also make them with yellow rice with added onion, peppers and carrots and I sometimes toss in some water chestnuts. It makes a great meal all in itself.

Wow Dirty that's great it's producing and it's just a year old. That looks like a decent crop for a baby. They are beautiful beans. :)

Health issues keep me from eating dried beans ... that's why I was interested in eating them green. I was hoping they might be similar to eating edamame ... I suppose because they look similar in the pods.

Check your supermarket, sharons--they may have the frozen ones, which are green. That would be a good way to try them and see how they affect you.

I didn't realize they had frozen ones ... thanks for the info Writer! Yeah I would hate to start growing them and realize that I can't eat them. I've been reading about them and it sounds like an amazing plant to grow.

At Publix they're usually in the "Ethnic" section in the freezer. Look for gandules.

Congrats on a good first harvest. I can't wait until my seeds get going.

sultry_jasmine_nights - the seeds can take up to a month to sprout. Don't give up!

Sorry, Dirty. I didn't understand there was a difference. I know nothing about these peas/beans. My neighbor has so many of these trees growing all over her property. Right now they are full of bean pods which are very dry. I never heard of these beans/peas. She keeps trying to give me some but we have a bit of a language problem so I'm really not sure what she's telling me.

One day she brought over a bowl of rice with these peas. They were green in the rice so I don't know if they were dried or not. The bowl was red hot, I promised her I'd try it (although I was a bit skeptical) as I wasn't sure what they were.

Took a taste, wow, it was delicious. I ate the entire bowl! My hubby didn't get a taste.

Still feel guilty, but I'm not sure whether these beans were dried or not. They looked green like little green peas.

She keeps planting these seeds and has so many growing all over the place.

They are tasty.

Jane

Hi, I am from Puerto Rico and these peas are a staple food there. You can either eat them fresh or dried,but the dried ones are soaked in water first before cooking. Can be stored dried or frozen. Usually cooked with rice, or like red beans in a sauce with white rice on the side,and they will either look green or brown depending on each batch. The pods are discarded after shelling them. They are picked mostly when the pod is brown.

Thanks, ladyjedi21. I love them both ways. I always have a bag of them in my cupboard, so I figured I'd just grow my own. From what I've read, one mature tree will give me all I need, but here it is likely to freeze in the winter, so I'm starting new ones every year.

I'm glad you posted. I've been taking care of my neighbors property while she is away. Her trees are full of brown pods and I wonder if I should pick them for her. Another neighbor who is Cuban said you should never eat the peas green as they will make you sick! He said they are poison!! He said the pods have to be brown and dry before using for food.

Any truth to that?

Jane