Sephardic Fresh Fava Beans with Onions and Mint

Unlike green/string beans, fava beans are more familiar to most in their dried form. They are also called broad beans for a reason, as they are substantially broader and bigger than green beans. Another difference between the two is that, unlike green beans, that can be found in their fresh form year round, fava beans’ season is fairly short, and happens exactly now, until around mid-May. If you want to enjoy this unique type of beans, look for them in vegetable stores and markets that specialize in Mediterranean ingredients.
The young and tender fava beans have a very different texture and flavor than fresh green beans, and are a seasonal delight. They can be cooked whole, shells included. However, as the very young beans are not easy to find, you can chose to do what I’ve done here, and use only part of the shells, to still get their unique flavor.
Since their season is around Passover, they are part of the Seder dinner in many Sephardic households, either on their own, as shown here, cooked with fresh artichokes, or with lamb or beef. This light and fresh dish is typical of the way vegetables are cooked in the Sephardic cuisine, where the vegetables flavors are not masked by too many spices. The dish, called “Avas Frescas” (i.e. fresh beans) in Ladino, can be served warm, as a side dish, or cold, as part of a “Meze” appetizer table. Try it and enjoy.

Notes:
* Shelling the beans, and cleaning the shells, can cause your finger to discolor. Rubbing them with some fresh lemon will help in removing the stains.
* If you can’t find fresh fava beans, frozen ones can be used instead. Just bear in mind that, as they do not  contain the shells, the dish will be a bit different.
* For more information about Sephardic cuisine, click HERE. For more Sephardic recipes, click HERE.

Makes: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 lbs (450 grams) fresh fava beans (see notes)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, small diced
1½ cups water
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
A handful of fresh mint leaves

1. To string the beans: hold one tip of the pod, and twist it towards the seam, pulling away the tough fiber, then remove the tip on the other side of the bean. Cut the small pods with the beans in, or shell the larger ones and cut the shell into large chunks.

2. In a medium pot, over medium-high heat, lightly sauté the onion, just until it’s soft and translucent. Add the water, lemon juice, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Add the cleaned beans and shells, and the mint, and bring to a boil.

3. Partially cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes, until the beans and shells are tender. Serve warm or cold.

 

Breakfast Egg Muffins

I often make starch-free breakfast egg muffins, as an easy way to serve eggs for breakfast. My usual go-to recipe is my roasted vegetables version (recipe can be found HERE). However, this time I didn’t have prepared roasted vegetables at hand, so I decided to make do with fresh vegetables. I ended up with the following colorful, flavorful and nutritious breakfast egg-muffins.

Starchless Cauliflower, Goat Cheese and Almonds Bake

With a request to develop a “vegetarian, starchless bake”, the decision to use cauliflower as the main ingredient was quite obvious, as this vegetable’s texture when cooked is as close to that of potatoes.

Multi Grain Bread stuffed with Roasted Vegetables

Once again I’ve been experimenting with baking with different types of flour. This time I combined quite a few of them, to create these very tasty breads. The texture came out incredibly multi-layered, where each type of flour brought a unique one.

“Porcupine” Meatballs with Eggplants and Tomatoes

Adding rice to meatballs is an old tradition, which can be found in many cuisines around the world. The “porcupine” version is also known in quite a few of them, especially in the Persian and Chinese cuisines.
However, in many of these versions the whimsical “porcupine” effect, i.e. the rice grains protruding noticeably, is not always as pronounced as you can see here.

Roast Beef with Roasted Vegetables

As I’m planning to prepare this wonderful roast beef soon, I thought it would be a good idea to re-post the recipe, which was posted in the early days of the blog, for those of you who might have missed it.
I’m sure that even those of you who already saw the recipe, will enjoy this tasty remainder.
See you next week with a new recipe!

Tasty Eats

The Holidays season brings with it lots of roast beef recipes, and rightly so, as it is one of the best dishes for an easy and tasty entertaining. The only problem is that many of these recipes are very long and detailed.
While it is the best approach for many, others may be deterred by the overwhelming information and end up thinking the dish is too complicated to even try. So, my goal here is to try to make the explanations as short and as simple as possible.

With this in mind, we still need to point out there are two important things to remember when preparing a roast beef: first, the meat has to be at room temperature before you put it in the oven. The second: plan the roasting time with the resting time in mind, as it is crucial to let the meat rest properly before slicing…

View original post 422 more words

Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

This rustic dish, of beautifully roasted chicken with potatoes and other vegetables, makes entertaining of a fairly large group of guests an easy task. Everything is prepared in advance, and then roasted in one pan about an hour before serving.

Zucchini, Carrots and Onion Fritters

Crispy on the outside, soft and bursting with flavor on the inside, these tasty and colorful fritters are perfect as an appetizer, on a sandwich, or as a snack.
You can make the fritters smaller, for a finger-food option, or larger, to serve as a bed for fish or seafood dish, or poached eggs. Different herbs and seasoning can obviously be added, but personally I prefer not to use them here and let the flavor of the vegetables shine.

Flourless Eggs and Roasted Vegetables Mini Muffins

These easy and tasty mini bakes make use of any roasted vegetables you may have, whether especially made for the dish, or any leftovers you have from other dishes. The bakes contain no flour, which makes them perfect for gluten-free guests.

Pot Roasted Chicken with Celery and Carrots, Sephardic Style

This simple chicken dish, from the fabulous Sephardic cuisine (find explanations about it HERE, or in THIS wonderful blog), is as tasty as it is easy to prepare.

Bamiya Con Tomate – Okra Sephardic style

It’s Okra season, and to those who love these weirdly shaped green pods, this means tasty okra dishes.