Edamame

Edamame is a young soybean pod which is commonly boiled with salt and eaten as an appetizer or snack. It used to be that you'd only find these in Japanese restaurants, but today you can find them fresh or frozen in most well-stocked grocery stores.

Other Uses For Edamame

Use the shelled soybeans in soups or use raw in salads.  Consider adding the beans to your next stir-fry or simply saute them with some fresh garlic and olive oil.  Cooked beans can be mashed and made into a guacamole-style dip.

Here are some alternatives for cooked or fresh edamame. You can substitute an equal amount of one of these vegetables:

• You can always replace fresh with frozen. The pods store well in the freezer and are quickly thawed.
• Alternate sugar snap peas

For Cooked Edamame Use:

• Cooked green peas
• Fava beans (horse beans), cooked
• Cooked black-eyed peas