"fava beans" news and stories

Take a French baguette. This is the line that leads to a lot of amazingly good, easy eating. A skinny toasted loaf can be topped with pretty much any combination of ingredients you please. At Washington, D.C.'s Leopold's Kafe & Konditorei, a baguette might be scattered with fresh favas and peas that have been tossed in a vinaigrette, along with some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

Experiment with crostini, bruschetta...or just call it plain old toasted bread. Try Kitchen Daily recipes for a tomato-basil combo, or a crostini with gorgonzola.

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Here's what I call gutsy: Take a food you've never eaten before, and instead of making it into something simple and traditional, just to see if you'll like it, make something really out there and weird. Weird in a good way. That's what blogger habeasbrulee has done with this fava bean and cherry salad. Huh? I mean, there's Middle Eastern ful, and there's a soup, or there's a side of favas with a spritz of lemon. But this adventurous soul, who'd never tasted a fava, sautéed the beans in ramp butter (!), added sweet cherries and minced preserved lemon, and claims the salad is delicious. OK, I'm game. See her post for more. For more recipes featuring fava beans (none of which involve ramp butter), see this Slashfood post.

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Put some spring into your whole grains, and kick off the season with a healthy one-dish meal. This salad from blogger delamentals is nutty and crunchy with wheat berries (the entire wheat kernel). Then add some new garlic, which has a milder flavor than you'll find in the mature bulb. Blanch and peel some gorgeous green fava beans to add fresh flavor and texture, and toss in some crumbled feta cheese for a bit of creamy saltiness. As a food critic pal of mine used to say, "It has everything you need, and nothing you don't." Well, maybe a cold glass of Prosecco to go with it, and a toast to all the vets on this Memorial Day. Cheers!

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Can you identify spring vegetables? Take this spring vegetable identification quiz on Slashfood to find out.

Bluefish with Fava Beans, Corn, Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs. Photo: Rebecca Flint Marx

Let's face it: ever since Hannibal Lecter sung their praises in "The Silence of the Lambs," fava beans haven't enjoyed the greatest associations -- particularly where Chianti and liver are involved.

And that's a shame, because they're some of the most flavorful and versatile treats that summer has to offer. In season for a few precious weeks, favas -- which have been enjoyed throughout the world for about 5,000 years and are packed with so much protein they've been called "the meat of the poor" -- can be used in everything from salads and purées to soups and pasta dishes.

When the flat, wide beans are shelled and blanched, they adopt a vibrant grassy hue and buttery texture that enriches any meal, and their rapid cooking time makes it easy to incorporate them into a quick weeknight dinner -- or into lunch the following day. While stringing and shucking the beans (which, unshelled, are about five inches long) is a bit labor-intensive, it's one of those activities that's all but made for summer, particularly if you have a porch, some time on your hands and a glass of something cold by your side.