The humble fava bean is packed with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. It boosts cellular antioxidant status by upregulating glutathione, contains soluble fiber that may help lower LDL cholesterol, contains L-dopa and has shown some promise in small Parkinson’s trials (more studies are warranted but intriguing!) and they are a burst of summer flavor in the mouth.
I prepare them simply with olive oil, garlic, lemon zest (the vit C helps iron absorption), chili and sumac and fresh mint.
RECIPE
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 cups fava beans in their pods or 2 cups shelled frozen fava beans
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- Pepper
- Zest of 1 lemon
- A large pinch chili flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac
- 4-6 torn mint leaves
Method
Remove the fava beans from their pods.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt and add the fava beans.
Cook for 4-5 minutes and drain. Transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and keep the beans bright and firm.
Using your fingers, take off the skins off the beans. The skins are edible but tough and bitter so I prefer to remove them.
Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant for about a minute. Add the cooked and peeled fava beans, salt and pepper and sauté for a couple minutes until we’ll coated with the garlic oil.
Transfer to a serving platter. Top with lemon zest, Chili flakes, sumac and mint and serve right away.
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