Fava beans

Fava beans are in season! I don’t know why I love these so much as they are a bit of a pain to deal with. But the end result is so worth it. So fresh and creamy, tastes just like spring should.

We have tried to grow fava beans in our garden, but have only had one successful season. This year we have ONE bean pod growing so far…

Thankfully these were in my CSA box this past week.

First you peel off the tough outer pods, and get big beans inside. Boil these for about 7-10 minutes, depending on if you are planning on cooking them additionally later, and how soft you want them to be. For me, 8 minutes was long enough to soften them up, but they still had a nice al dente bite to them. Let them cool, and peel away the waxy light green covering.

You end up with this beautiful bowl of favas. I like to keep things simple so that you can still taste them.

I tossed these with a lemon olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh mint, and salt and pepper. At this point you can eat them as is, mash them up a bit to spread on toast, toss with pasta, you name it!

I added some cooked farro, and mixed the whole thing together for a satisfying side dish. This dish is good warm or cold.

Enjoy!

Fava Bean and Farro Salad

• Servings: 4 as a side
• Time: 30 min
• Difficulty: Medium
• Print

INGREDIENTS
1 bunch fava beans, approximately 16 pods
2 Tb lemon olive oil, or regular extra virgin olive oil will work well too
Zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
1 cup cooked farro
2 Tb chopped mint
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Peel all of the fava beans out of their pods. Boil the beans for 7-10 minutes, let cool, and peel off the waxy coating. Toss shelled fava beans with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, mint and farro. Serve warm or cold.

Throwback Thursday: Thanksgiving Dishes

In honor of Thanksgiving next week and today being a “throwback Thursday,” I wanted to revisit one of my earliest posts on this blog, from Thanksgiving 2009. I will actually be making this apple pie again this year!

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Thanksgiving is always a wonderful, family- and food-filled day in my life.  For as long as I can remember, anywhere from 20-30 people have gathered in my mom’s house for this holiday.  We are a bit ridiculous when it comes to the food: always a selection of appetizers that makes it hard to leave room for dinner, two (or more) turkeys will all of the trimmings, and a variety of pies and cookies to satisfy all.

After starting college, and learning how to make an apple pie without mom’s helping hands (which was hilarious in the dorm kitchen), I’ve been making apple pie for our Thanksgivings using a family recipe. This year, I tried a little decoration on the crust.

Last year was the first year I experimented with a new recipe, and brought a Wild Rice Stuffing with Goat Cheese and Chorizo. As expected, a few select family members loved it, and the large majority were somewhat wary of trying something new.  I’ve been told I like to make “weird” foods by some of the pickier members of my family.

This year, my mom encouraged me to try something new again.  I have been loving squash all season, so I went in search of something featuring Butternut Squash.

I came across this recipe from 101 Cookbooks.  I couldn’t find farro anywhere, so I took this opportunity to try Winter Wheat Berries, which I have been meaning to try for quite a while.  I also planned on substituting the walnuts for hazelnuts, since I have been enjoying those lately.  Unfortunately, I must not have been paying attention at the store because I bought UNSHELLED hazelnuts.  Since I do not have a nutcracker, I’m in a bit of a pickle until I can figure out how to get them out.  So, I substituted pine nuts out of the freezer, which ended up quite nice.  I really liked how the pine nuts were a similar size to the winter wheat berries.

Again, the majority of my family was not inclined to try a new dish, featuring a grain most had not heard of. The adventurous ones told me that it was indeed delicious, and all left overs were taken home.  So, I’ll count that as a success!

Thanksgiving Dishes

Thanksgiving is always a wonderful, family- and food-filled day in my life.  For as long as I can remember, anywhere from 20-30 people have gathered in my mom’s house for this holiday.  We are a bit ridiculous when it comes to the food: always a selection of appetizers that makes it hard to leave room for dinner, two (or more) turkeys will all of the trimmings, and a variety of pies and cookies to satisfy all.

After starting college, and learning how to make an apple pie without mom’s helping hands (which was hilarious in the dorm kitchen), I’ve been making apple pie for our Thanksgivings using a family recipe. This year, I tried a little decoration on the crust.

Last year was the first year I experimented with a new recipe, and brought a Wild Rice Stuffing with Goat Cheese and Chorizo. As expected, a few select family members loved it, and the large majority were somewhat wary of trying something new.  I’ve been told I like to make “weird” foods by some of the pickier members of my family.

This year, my mom encouraged me to try something new again.  I have been loving squash all season, so I went in search of something featuring Butternut Squash.

I came across this recipe from 101 Cookbooks.  I couldn’t find farro anywhere, so I took this opportunity to try Winter Wheat Berries, which I have been meaning to try for quite a while.  I also planned on substituting the walnuts for hazelnuts, since I have been enjoying those lately.  Unfortunately, I must not have been paying attention at the store because I bought UNSHELLED hazelnuts.  Since I do not have a nutcracker, I’m in a bit of a pickle until I can figure out how to get them out.  So, I substituted pine nuts out of the freezer, which ended up quite nice.  I really liked how the pine nuts were a similar size to the winter wheat berries.

Again, the majority of my family was not inclined to try a new dish, featuring a grain most had not heard of. The adventurous ones told me that it was indeed delicious, and all left overs were taken home.  So, I’ll count that as a success!