fava beans.

spring is in the air...  at least i think it is.  sometimes it's hard to tell what season it is here in florida.  but one thing is for sure, the bounty of spring is upon us.


one of my favorite veggies that is abundant this time of year are fava beans.  if you've never had favas, think BIG lima bean, but better.  ok, maybe that's a bad example.  when i think lima beans, i think the gross canned things i was forced to eat as a child.  so, how about....let's just forget i said that.


fava beans are freaking delicious.  don't be mislead by my blunder of an example.  although, to enjoy these beans, you'll have to do a lot of work.  but the reward is totally worth it.

this week i got in a batch of some beautiful fava beans.  and the process started.  first you have to remove the beans from the pods.  i had a 20lb case, so this took a few hours.

once the beans are out of the pods, you'll need to blanch them.  get some water boiling with a lot of salt. (1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water)  once the water starts boiling drop in your beans.  let the water come back to a boil and cook beans for about 3-5 minutes.  dump hot water out/strain beans.  put the beans into an ice bath.  this will stop the cooking process.

after the beans have cooled down, they will look pale and wrinkly.  the fun part starts now.  fava beans have a thick membrane surrounding the inner fleshy goodness.  you'll need to remove that.  and you'll need some spare time..and lots of patience.  you can either squeeze out the insides of the bean, or you can grab a paring knife and remove innards that way.  i prefer the squeezing only for the fact that it makes it more interesting....those little suckers are like mini green missiles. 

after you are done removing the membrane you should have this.

now, keep it simple.  add some lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and some freshly chopped tarragon.  maybe some red onion for crunch.  


lunch, done.