I like preparing Cento brand fava beans. Rather than “de-pod, skin, and cook,” or “soak and cook,” the instructions are “open jar and drain.” They come in a glass jar and we buy them at the Italian Depot on 1st St. near Bullard here in Fresno. Fava beans like being dropped into a spicy tomato sauce and served over pasta, and they also are fond of being tossed with olive oil and greens to make an almost unbelievably healthy and tasty salad. This is great as a meze – a component of a meal of small dishes.
No Chianti jokes, please. Thank you.
Ingredients:
2.5 oz. fresh spinach, (about half an Earthbound Farm box’s worth) cut in shreds
1 jar Cento fava beans, drained and rinsed briefly
¼ of a red onion, slivered
2 T. olive oil
1 T. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
Toss all ingredients together. Good both immediately (with nice crispy spinach) and later (when the spinach will have wilted from the oil and salt.) After the spinach has wilted, I’ll happily toss a cup or so of the bean-spinach mixture with more whole spinach leaves or other greens to make a meal-type salad.
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