Pea Shoot Salad with Fava Beans
1 pound fava beans, shelled
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. pea shoots
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 avocado, sliced lengthwise (optional)
Blanch the fava beans in boiling water no more than two minutes; immediately cool in ice water. Remove the beans' outer skin, either by popping the bean out with your fingers or by paring the shell away. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar; season to taste. Toss pea shoots, radishes, and slivered almonds with the oil/vinegar mixture. Divide this salad mixture among as many as four plates; top with fava beans and avocado slices.
Adapted from food52.com (which must be based significantly south of us, since they seem to consider fava beans a spring vegetable).
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Fava-Mint Pesto
2 cups cleaned fava beans (about 2 lb. before removing pods and shells)
2 Tbsp. almonds, roughly chopped
2 anchovy fillets in oil, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
6 Tbsp. lemon oil
1⁄4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1⁄4 cup loosely packed mint leaves, thinly sliced
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt to taste
Cook fava beans in boiling, salted water until bright green, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl of ice water with a slotted spoon and let sit about a minute, until chilled. Drain and roughly chop. Pound the almonds, anchovies, and garlic in a mortar until evenly combined. Add 2 tablespoons of the lemon oil. Add fava beans and mash into a coarse purée. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons lemon oil, cheese, mint, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Adapted from Saveur
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More about fava beans
Versión en español: this post is also available in Spanish.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
