I’ve included the fava bean cooking techniques again as well as a new recipe for the favas, one of my favorites this week (see photo). And again, there are lots of salad recipes. Enjoy the slightly cooler week!
Beet Notes
Grated Beets in Salads
Carrot Salad with Harissa and Feta
Kale “Caesar” Salad
Fava Bean Notes
Fava Bean Pasta “Risotto”
Fava Bean Burgers With Beet Greens
Summer Vegetable Ragout with Favas, Carrots, Fennel and Summer Squash
Beet Notes
Typically I like to roast, boil or steam (if they’re small) all my beets at once. That way they’re ready to go for salads or sandwiches (yes, very good sliced and put on crusty bread with some goat cheese, green onions or chives, hardboiled egg, etc. (see photo). Alternatively you can leave some raw to use in the below fashion.
And by all means use the greens. They don’t keep well so use them as soon as you can. Quickly sautéed with a bit of garlic and then dressed with a little vinegar they are lovely as is, or add them to a frittata or stir fry.
Grated Beets in Salads and other Dishes
I do love to grate them raw and then marinate them in a dressing of minced and mashed garlic, lemon juice, salt and olive oil. All they need is a 20-minute soak, but longer is fine too. Then you can toss a cup of them into any green salad, add a bit of crumbled feta and maybe a few handfuls of toasted, coarse breadcrumbs and you have a lovely salad.
You can mix them with grated carrots and marinate the whole thing and then stir in lots of parsley leaves for a wonderfully refreshing side/salad.
You can mix the grated marinated beets into Greek yogurt for a sort of (very pink) beat tzatziki and serve that with lamb burgers or dolloped on plain, cooked chickpeas or chickpea burgers.
Carrot Salad with Harissa, Feta and Mint
This salad is complexly flavored and delicious and would be perfect with lamb. Harissa is a Moroccan spice paste available at many stores. I like Mustapha’s, which is usually available at New Seasons. You can also make your own. http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/r/harissa.htm
3/4 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and coarsely grated
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic
cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds or about half as much, ground
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds or about half as much, ground
1/2 teaspoon paprika
¾ – 1 teaspoon harissa (for a solid kick of heat; adjust yours to taste, and to the heat level of your harissa)
½ teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons mint, finely chopped
2 ounces feta, crumbled
In a small sauté pan, cook the garlic, caraway, cumin, paprika, harissa and sugar in the oil until fragrant, about one to two minutes. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Pour over the carrots and mix. Add the herbs and mix. Leave to infuse for an hour or so and add the feta right before serving.
Kale “Caesar” Salad
This dressing is also delicious with kale instead of romaine. If you don’t have anchovies you can substitute some chopped capers for an equally great dressing.
Serves 4-6 depending on appetites and what else is being served
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons good olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4-5 flat anchovy filets (or more to taste) or 1 ½ tablespoons capers, rinsed and finely chopped (see headnote)
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or more to taste)
Freshly grated black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (optional)
1 bunch kale, washed, leaves cut in half lengthwise and then cut into ½-inch ribbons
1 cup croutons or toast a slice or two of good crusty bread and tear it into bite-sized pieces
You can either use a food processor or a mortar and pestle. If using the latter, put the garlic, anchovy, pepper and salt in it and pound it into a smooth-ish paste. Scoop the paste out of the mortar and put it into a bowl. Then whisk in the lemon juice and egg yolk and then slowly add the oil and finally the Parmesan. If using a food processor start with the garlic, anchovy, lemon juice and salt and then add the ingredients in the same order. Stir the Parmesan at the end after you’ve removed the dressing from the processor.
Toss the dressing with kale and croutons and let sit for a few minutes before serving.
Fava Bean Notes
There are three primary cooking techniques:
And I’ve found that I get about 1 ½ cups shelled (using technique #1) fava beans from 2 pounds of pods.
1. Shell and blanch and peel: Shell the beans, removing them from their squishy pods and then blanch the beans in boiling water for 2-4 minutes or so and then pinch the skin off each individual bean. (I often split up the prepping, shelling the beans right when I get them and then cooking them later and pinching them out of their skins. This method results in delicious, tender, bright green beans and you can eat them as is with some olive oil and salt, add them to pasta or risotto or soup, etc. Or you can use the Middle Eastern method described below where you cook them in heavily salted water in their big, squishy pods and don’t shell each bean. It’s much less work and also delicious though a very different kind of dish. Experiment and see what you like.
2. Grill the whole pods and if they’re quite young and tender you can eat the beans, pods and all or if a bit larger, shell them at this point and enjoy them without further removal of the skin around each bean.
3. Cook the whole pods in heavily salted boiling water (Iranian method detailed in the recipe below and then drain and shell. Again with this method there is no need to peel the individual beans.
Fava Bean Pasta “Risotto”
–inspired by Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan
Serves 3-4
I heavily adapted this dish from Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful book Around my French Table last winter with cauliflower and then I made it with Brussels sprouts and bacon and then with winter squash and sage. I remembered the technique this week when I had 25 minutes to get dinner on the table and I had fava beans and new potatoes and basil. It was fantastic.
You can use just favas or some diced carrots and/or fennel as well. The bacon is optional. Just make it! And finally, as cookbook author Dorie Greenspan notes, “this is risotto” the way that finely sliced apples are carpaccio, which means not at all. . .” but the technique is just enough reminiscent of risotto that appreciate the reference and continue to use it. My version might not be recognizable to Dorie but it’s a keeper in our household.
1 – 11/2 cups shelled blanched, shelled fava beans using technique #1 above
½ large onion, diced
1 cup diced carrot or fennel or both (optional –see headnote)
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1-2 slices bacon, diced (optional)
1 1/3 cup tubetti (or ditalini or other small pasta)
4 cups flavorful vegetable broth (homemade veggie bouillon-recipe below) or chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or other hard, grating cheese (Asiago Stella is a good, cheaper alternative)
Salt
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoon basil or mint (optional)
Prepare the fava beans using technique #1.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots and/or fennel (if using) and a few pinches of salt and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring often. You may need to reduce the heat a bit. Now add the broth or stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, stirring well and then simmer for about 10 minutes uncovered. Now add the blanched, shelled fava beans, and cook for another 3-4 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. At this point add the cream and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Cook uncovered for about 3 minutes until it thickens slightly.
Stir in the Parmesan and the herbs, if using, and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
I made my version with fava beans and new potatoes (which was excellent) and in case you have some leftover potatoes you can certainly use some (add them to the onion, cut into small-ish dice) at the beginning.
Summer Vegetable Ragout with Favas, Carrots, Fennel and Summer Squash
This is a classic Italian preparation for a variety of spring/early summer vegetables. It’s a bit of work but definitely worth it. You want all the vegetables to be cut fairly small and about the same size. You can toss it with pasta or gnocchi and top with some aged pecorino or Parmesan or enjoy as a side with fish or meat or egg dishes or top it with a fried or poached egg.
1 onion, diced
1 ½ cups blanched and shelled fava beans (using technique #1)
2-3 carrots, well scrubbed but no need to peel and diced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed of any tough layers and cut into ½-inch dice
1 summer squash, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice
Technique #1: Shell the fava beans and then cook the beans in a pot of boiling water for just a minute or two. Drain them and rinse with cold water. Then pierce the skin surrounding each bean with your fingernail and pop out the beans.
Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and the onions and carrots and cook for about 3 minutes then add the beans, fennel and summer squash and ½ cup of water, garlic and several pinches of salt. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 7 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. The vegetables should be quite soft and not at all al dente for this dish. Add more liquid if you need to. The true sweetness of this dish comes from longer cooking time. Taste and adjust Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Fava Bean Burgers
–adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
In included this recipe last week to use your favas and spinach. You can use beet greens instead of spinach and since you have favas again I’m keeping it around. These are a little bit of work but so, so good and they deliciously combine a few of you share ingredients this week.
If you have a half share and not enough fava beans for the below quantity you can increase the number of potatoes a bit.
Serves 4
1 bunch beet greens, stems removed and well washed
3 tablespoons olive oil
About 2 ½ cups shelled fava beans (using technique #1)
3 (or 4—see headnote) medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into small dice
1 small Serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped (optional – can use 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes instead)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
6 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs
1 egg
Olive, sunflower or grapeseed oil for frying
Wilt the beet greens in a hot pan with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out any liquid, then chop roughly and set aside.
Blanch shelled fava beans in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and run under cold water and pinch skins of beans (technique #1 above).
Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and put into a large mixing bowl. Immediately add the fava beans, spices, chile, garlic, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Use a potato masher to mash it all up roughly; don’t worry if some beans are not totally crushed. You can alternatively quickly pulse in food processor.
Next, add the beet greens, chopped cilantro and breadcrumbs. Taste to check the seasoning. Lastly, mix in the egg.
Wet your hands and shape the mix into fat patties that are roughly 2 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. Chill them for at least half an hour.
To cook, heat up the oil and pan fry the burgers on high or medium high heat for 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Serve warm, with lemony yogurt sauce.
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon good olive oil
about 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper
Stir the above ingredients together and dollop on the burgers.