Fava beans/broad beans large pack

Description

Uses

They are very tasty, very beautiful as a side, livening up the plating of any dish they are a part of, and very nutritious.   Young, immature beans can be eaten whole, including the pod eg like peas, raw in salads, steamed, stir-fried or boiled.  

To start, mature but green beans need to be immersed in water that has been brought to the boil and taken off the heat.   Allow to heat, covered, for about 2 minutes.  

     Remove and dunk in ice water, to quickly stop the cooking process.  

     They are then removed from the pods,

     and also removed from the tough little skin to reveal the bright green bean inside.

     Looking at the pile of pods opposed to the much smaller pile of beans you have you may well think it was not a worthwhile endeavour, yet they have such a singular taste, and coupled with great visual appeal once you have used them you will want to do it again.  They are now ready to use in multiple ways, to warm up briefly stir into a pan of melted butter, quite warm, which you may wish to season according to your palate, keeping in mind the very delicate taste of the beans themselves:   

– a small handful on the side to brighten up your meat and carbs, add a little melted butter and seasoning.   Lemon or lime drizzled into the mix works wonders too.   

– cooled and scattered over a mixed salad

–   on lazy days I simply fry a punnet of  button mushrooms in a pan while cleaning the beans, at least 10 or more, then add them to the pan with salt, freshly-ground pepper and fresh lime or lemon squeezed over and eat the whole lot as a main meal.   This is also a good side dish for more than one person with other veg or meat.  

Nutritional information/apparent health benefits

Contain large amounts of potassium, phosphorus, calcium, vitamin A and C and a small balance of iron and sodium  

Recipes

Tip:   If you lack some of the ingredients but the recipe helps you to use what  you have to make a tasty meal, consider its purpose served.   

Jamie Oliver’s broad bean and pea pesto:

Smash a small handful of mint in a pestle and mortar.  Add 2 handfuls of cooked peas and broad beans and mash into a rough paste.  Squeeze in some lemon juice and a large handful of parmesan cheese.  Add a drizzle of olive oil to make the paste moist. 

Correct seasoning, just with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Serve on toast.

Broad beans with bacon as a quick one-dish meal:

Fry some onion, garlic and bacon until golden brown, stir through boiled and shelled beans as described above and serve.

Broad bean salad:

Quantities as desired: Prepare the beans as above.  Dice or julienne some cucumbers and carrots.   Finely chop some chives, mix and serve with a good vinaigrette dressing, seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper.

Broad bean and kohlrabi salad with kale, and red and green cabbage:

To make your own cherry-honey mustard use a half cup good mayonnaise, 1 T honey, 1T lemon or lime juice, 2T good yellow or whole grain mustard, 1 T dijon mustard, small amount of pureed cherries to taste.   Mix well.   If it is too sharp add honey.

Use other available fruits if cherries are out of season, eg blueberries, raspberries..

 Ingredients:   fresh fava beans, fresh kohlrabi, medium cream cherry, olive oil, honey, cherry honey mustard, kale, red cabbage, green cabbage, red onion, fresh italian parsley or chervil.

Directions:  Prepare fava beans as described above.

Peel kohlrabi, slice half a cup kohlrabi and add raw to the glass jar with the steamed fava beans.  Also stir in four tablespoons sherry, two tablespoons olive oil, one tablespoon honey, one tablespoon cherry honey mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the fava beans and kohlrabi marinade in dressing for ten minutes.

Wash and dry the kale. Remove one cup of kale leaves from stems, slice as finely as possible, (called chiffonade) and add to a large glass mixing bowl.   Remove one cup purple cabbage from head, slice as finely as possible, and add to the mixing bowl.   Remove one cup green cabbage from head, chiffonade and add to the mixing bowl. Remove onion skins, thinly slice one quarter cup red onion and add to the mixing bowl. Wash and dry parsley. Remove one quarter cup parsley leaves from stems and add to the mixing bowl. 

Stir fava bean and kohlrabi mixture into the salad, let rest for ten minutes and serve  with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Recipe for a delicious herb, lime and bean pate:

Ingredients:   1t coconut oil, half small onion chopped, 1 garlic clove chopped, 1 cup steamed shelled Fava beans inners, generous handful of fresh coriander and also parsley, juice of 1 lime (substitute with lemon if needs be) 2T olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Ingredients:   1t coconut oil, half small onion chopped, 1 garlic clove chopped, 1 cup steamed shelled Fava beans inners, generous handful of fresh coriander and also parsley, juice of 1 lime (substitute with lemon if needs be) 2T olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper.