Make this delicious bruschetta appetizer with fresh fava beans for a stunning vegan treat. Early summer is the time to look for fava beans in your farmers markets. These long nutritious beans are popular worldwide, and each culture has its own distinct recipes. If you’re lucky enough to find them super-fresh from a local farm, please give them a try.
Choose pods that feel firm but are slightly soft with no black ends. Pick out a good amount, as each large pod holds only 4-5 beans. I prefer them fresh and simply cooked with a bit of garlic and olive oil. Serve the beans bruschetta-style on a good baguette alongside an arugula salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette.
Peeling them can be a quiet and peaceful task as each bean has its own unique shape and feel. They’re the same but different. (OK; enough of that circular argument!)
Peel each bean by nipping off the end of the pod with a sharp knife or your fingernail and find the string that will “unzip” the pod, revealing the row of pale green beans covered with a thin whitish skin.
Remove the beans from the pods and when you’re done, drop them into a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Scoop the beans out of the water, and put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. This also helps them keep their lovely bright green color. When the beans are cool enough to handle, squeeze each bean between your thumb and pointer finger and the bean should pop right out of the skin.
At this point you can make them into the recipe below, turn them into hummus, toss them over a green salad or tuck away in your freezer for when you want a touch of summer. And keep lots of lemon wedges handy when serving this dish. Lemon brings it alive!
This appetizer goes great with the fava bean bruschetta:
Broiled Polenta with Olives and Tomatoes
Fava Bean Bruschetta with Arugula-Lemon Salad
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4-5 servings
Great for a summer appetizer or a brunch, and the salad is also great on its own. Use a good baguette sliced on the diagonal and don't forget the lemon for added flavor.
Ingredients
For the beans:
- 1 lb fresh fava beans in their pods (about 30)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and lemon wedges for garnish
- 1 baguette or slices of any crusty rustic-style bread
For the salad:
- 8 cups baby arugula
- 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Open the pods by snipping off an end of a pod and finding the string that runs along the outer "seam" of the pod. Pull it to "unzip" the pod. Carefully remove the beans from the pod. Heat a large pot of water to boiling and drop in all the beans at once. Lower the heat and cook the beans for 3 minutes. Scoop them from the boiling water and immediately put them into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
When the beans are cool enough to handle, gently squeeze each bean between your thumb and forefinger and pop the bean out of its whitish skin. Discard or compost the skins. Heat the olive oil to simmering and add the beans. Cook the beans, stirring gently for a minute, then add the garlic and salt and cook for another minute. The beans should be retaining their shape and color but remain tender, you don't want them mushy. Put the beans into a mixing bowl and add the lemon juice. Gently half-mash the beans and taste for salt and lemon, adding more of either if necessary.
Make the salad dressing in a blender or in a bowl with a whisk. Start with the olive oil and add the lemon juice slowly, blending or whisking to emulsify the dressing. Add the salt and the pepper and combine well. It will help to emulsify the dressing if you add a teaspoon of warm water. Taste the dressing and add more salt if necessary.
Wash the arugula well and put it in a salad bowl with the cherry tomatoes. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to mix.
Warm or toast the bread you've chosen (if it's super-fresh, you may choose not to warm it, but it should be firm enough to hold the beans), spread the beans on the bread and serve alongside the arugula salad.
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