Macedonian Arakas Latheros (Αρακάς Λαδερός)

Macedonian arakas latheros is the spring pea pot of Thessaloniki kitchens: peas, potato, carrot, tomato, and a fistful of dill cooked in enough olive oil to make the sauce shine. It is nistisimo, suitable for the fasting table when olive oil is permitted, but it eats like a proper main dish, not a penance.

One method decides it: don't drown the peas. Add only enough hot water to come partway up the vegetables, then let the pot sit on a low bubble until the potatoes soften and the tomato and oil gather into a glossy sauce. Boil it hard and you get wet vegetables. Cook it patiently and you get lathero, oil-sauced, sweet, green, and ready for bread.

The dill goes in at the end. I keep this small stubbornness because boiled dill turns brown and loses its breath; folded through off the heat, it stays green and tells you this is spring. My mother Sofia made it on weekdays in Thessaloniki with frozen peas when the market ones were gone. No shame. A good frozen pea is better than an old fresh one.