How to Use Fresh Fava Beans

Fava beans are fun and delicious!

One of the largest beans and certainly the richest in flavor, favas are a real harbinger of summer. People all over the world enjoy their rich taste and generous nutrition. Also called “broad beans,” they are high in fiber and iron, and low in sodium and fat. They have no cholesterol but so much protein that they were called “the beef of the poor” in Charles Dickens’ day.

If the beans are very young, the whole bean can be chopped up and used, pods and all. Otherwise shuck them to your preference. There is a whiteish skin around the bean itself, which some people like to eat, and others prefer to discard (see below).

Sauté shucked beans with peas and mushrooms, or with shrimp and thyme for a delicious and elegant summer supper. Toss them into soups, stir-fries or pasta. Roast them with garlic, olive oil and salt to taste, or use them raw, whole or chopped into salads. Puree favas for an alternative green base to pizza or pasta. Boil and mash them, and spread the paste on crostini.

Shucking favas

First, split the pod at the seam and remove the beans. There are about 4 to 5 per pod.

To remove the second skin, there are two different methods. The first is to make a small slit with a knife along the edge of the bean to pop the bean out of its skin.

The alternate, and more popular, method is to blanch them for 1-3 minutes. Remove the beans from the boiling water and immediately submerge them in ice cold water to stop the cooking process. At this point, you can spread the beans out on a cookie sheet to freeze, then bag and store in freezer. If you’re going to use them right away, squeeze them out from their skins, and use as directed in any recipe of your choice.

Sauteeing fava beans

Shuck 2 pounds of fava beans. Use either method to remove the outer skin of the beans. You should have about 1.5 cups beans. Over medium heat in a skillet, melt together 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil, add two minced garlic cloves (or 2 finely chopped garlic scapes) and sauté for 1 minute. Add the fava beans and sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are done to your preference. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper, serve, and enjoy!

Or get a little fancier. Add other delicious items, such as caramelized onions or fennel, chunky fresh tomatoes, a bit of chopped proscuitto, and a cup of chopped endive. Serve on fettuccine with a light cream sauce.

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Posted on July 4, 2014

Using Fresh Dill

What’s your favorite use for dill? Let us know in the comments below!

Looking for dill-flavored inspiration? Here are several fantastic uses for dill that you might not have thought of.

Add sparkle to a tuna sandwich.
Enhance a cold gazpacho soup.
Mix 1/4 cup fresh dill with 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add 2 sliced cucumbers, 1 cup sliced red onion, and 2 cut-up tomatoes. Toss, and let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.
Got a favorite pureed carrot soup recipe? Be sure to garnish it with some delicate dill fronds for a treat that’s not only tasty, but visually appealing.
Dill with salmon is a marriage made in heaven. Add finely chopped garlic, too!
Add to Greek green salads, with romaine, sliced scallions and crumbled feta.
Make your own sourdough bread? Throw in some olives and dill.
Chop 1/2 cup dill fine and mix with 2-3 tablespoons butter, salt, and pepper.
For an incredible roasted chicken, use a spoon to get dill under the skin of the breasts, thighs, and legs, and massage it around the meat. Stuff some into the cavity of the chicken with lemon slices and garlic.
Add to potato soup, or potato salad with lemon and green onion.
Add to cole slaw, omelets, lentil dahl, or borscht.
Make dill sauce with plain yogurt, mayo, sour cream, garlic, lemon, and salt and pepper.

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Posted on June 26, 2014

Pickled Chard Stems

Not sure what to do with chard stems? Pickle them!

Many people like to lightly steam chard greens for their health benefits. But don’t throw the stems away! Once pickled, they can be added to salads or sandwiches, or just munched as is.

1 pound chard stems (from about 4 bunches), cut into 4″ lengths
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons Nash’s black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Toss the chard stems and shallot slices in the salt and let them stand in a colander in a sink for 1 hour. Rinse and drain well.

Meanwhile, toast the mustard and caraway seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until mustard seeds begin to pop, about 2 minutes. Let cool.

Bring the vinegar, sugar, and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan; let cool slightly. Pour brine into jars. Let cool slightly, add chard stems, shallots, and seeds, then cover and chill for 24 hours. They will last for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

We thank epicurious.com for this recipe.

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Posted on June 21, 2014

What to Do with Garlic Scapes

Curlicues of bunched garlic scapes look whimsical, but scapes are seriously tasty.

Do you love garlic but have run out of last season’s garlic cloves? Not to worry—garlic scapes are here! Scapes are the tall flowering stalk of the garlic plant. They have a mild garlic flavor and can be used to add garlicky goodness to so many dishes. Here are several tasty suggestions.

Garlic Scape Pesto—Blend with pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil, lemon, and salt and pepper. Add basil, if you want.

Grilled or Roasted—Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper, and grill for 2 minutes on each side.

Hummus—Swap scapes for garlic cloves. Great in a lemony, tahini-free hummus.

Compound Butter—Add some lemon and fresh thyme.

Pizza—Delicious on a white grilled pizza with caramelized onions.

Stir-fry—They lose some bite when sautéed, so use 3-4 times as much.

Salads—Blanch them first, like you would green beans.

Soup—Add to soup towards the end to get the best flavor from the scapes.

Pickled—Add to your favorite pickle recipe, or just pickle the scapes themselves in vinegar, salt and dill.

Sautéed—Great with shrimp.

Quesadillas—Grill them first and add lots of cheese!

Omelets—Add cut-up scapes, arugula and a little basil along with cheese.

Pork Burgers—Mix with Nash’s Italian sausage or ground pork, and a little rosemary. OMG!!

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Posted on June 12, 2014

Strawberry Ideas

Strawberries are here, strawberries are here! Hurry and make as many delicious strawberry dishes as you can before they’re gone!

Salads—Great with spinach.

Smoothies—with yogurt, milk, juice, bananas and oranges.

Syrup—Boil in a little water, allow to cool, and use on Nash’s buckwheat pancakes, or on ice cream. Add a little chopped basil for a taste explosion!

Desserts—Dip in melted chocolate; add to a fruit pie; slice and put on vanilla ice cream, drizzle with high-quality Balsamic vinegar, garnish with mint.

Butter—Chop fine and add to softened butter with a little pepper.

Popsicles—Crush into chunky liquid, mix with a little sugar, put into popsicle forms and freeze. Kids love ‘em!

Ice Cubes—Put one strawberry into each ice cube section of an ice tray, freeze and put in lemonade, wine coolers, etc.

Trail Mix—Dry in a food dehydrator and mix with nuts, raisins, etc.

Soup—Blend 3 cups strawberries, 1 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup Reisling, and 1/3 cup sugar. Chill and drizzle with olive oil and a dash pepper.

Salsa—Chop and mix strawberries, chives, cilantro, dried cranberries, and avocado. Mix with red pepper jelly, lime juice and a little dried crushed red pepper.

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Posted on June 5, 2014

Garlic Scape Aioli

Add mild garlic flavor to your aioli with these funky garlic scapes.

2 bunches Nash’s garlic scapes, cleaned and roasted
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Place garlic scapes on cookie sheet and roast them for 15 minutes at 375 degrees with salt and a little bit of oil. Cool and chop them and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix in a blender until everything is well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Use as your favorite summer sandwich spread or dip for grilled veggies.

We thank Karolina Tracz for this recipe.

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Posted on May 23, 2014

Pickled Mixed Vegetables

Makes 5-6 quarts

1 large head cauliflower
4 ribs celery
1 dozen small pickling cucumbers
8 small carrots
1 medium green bell pepper
1 medium red bell pepper
8 small pearl onions
16 cloves garlic
1 pound green beans
10 cup vinegar
6 cup water
1 cup salt
2 teaspoons celery seed
4 teaspoons dill seed
4 teaspoons mustard seed

Sterilize jars. Break cauliflower into small florets; cook in boiling water 5 minutes; drain. Cut remaining vegetables into bite-sized pieces and mix in a big bowl. Mix the vinegar, water, salt, celery, dill and mustard seed to make brine and heat over medium. Pack hot jars with random vegetables, bring brine to a boil and fill to 1/2” head space. Follow the USDA recommendation for processing pickled mixed vegetables.

We thank Stocking Up for this recipe.

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Posted on May 22, 2014

Fingerling Potato & Smoked Salmon Salad

Serves 8 people as an appetizer

For the Dressing
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
6 tablespoons Pacifica canola oil
Zest from half an orange
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced tarragon leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt

In medium non-reactive mixing bowl, whisk vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in Pacifica canola oil. Add the orange zest and tarragon. Adjust to taste.

For the Salad
2 pounds fingerling potatoes
2 ounces smoked salmon, broken up
1 bulb fennel, diced
Salt & pepper
1 shallot, finely minced

Wash the potatoes well. Place them whole in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add enough salt to the water to make it salty like the ocean. Bring the potatoes to a boil, then turn down and summer until spuds are tender. You can check this by inserting a paring knife though one of the potatoes. if it offers no resistance, the potato is done.

Drain the spuds. While they are hot, cut them into quarters and place them in large bowl. Sprinkle with two teaspoons kosher salt and a quarter teaspoon fresh ground pepper. Toss them in the bowl to coat well with salt and pepper. let the potatoes cool for about 15 minutes.

Add the fennel, shallot and smoked salmon. Add enough of the dressing to coast the salad ingredients well. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to serve.

Optional: Because of the canola oil’s nutty flavor, toasted hazelnuts or almonds are a nice addition to top the salad right before serving.

We thank Allium Restaurant and Lisa K Nakamura for this recipe.

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Posted on May 22, 2014

Three Bean Dip

Mmmm, bean dip. Did you know that Nash’s grows dried beans, like kidney beans and fava beans?

1 cup Nash’s black coco beans, cooked
1 cup pinto beans, cooked
1 cup adzuki beans, cooked
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 clove fresh garlic
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Grated cheddar cheese (optional)

For tips on cooking dried beans, see our article Six Tips on Cooking Dried Beans.

In the working bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Dip with corn chips, bell peppers, carrots, quesadillas, tortillas, etc.

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Posted on May 9, 2014

Cauliflower Tortillas

A creative and tasty way to enjoy gluten free tortillas.

1 medium head cauliflower, cut up and stem removed
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375° F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. In a food processor, rice the cauliflower by pulsing until you get a texture slightly finer than rice. Measure to make sure you have 2 cups, packed.

Place riced cauliflower in bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir, then microwave for another two minutes and stir again. Place in a dish towel and squeeze excess water out as hard as you can. (Get as much water out as you can, but be careful not to burn yourself.) Place drained cauliflower back in the bowl and add eggs, salt and pepper and mix until well combined. It will be a little bit runny but not pure liquid either.

Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet into 6 small fairly flat circles. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove and carefully peel them off the parchment, flip them, and place back in the oven for 5-7 more minutes.

Once they’re done, place them on a wire rack to cool slightly. Heat a pan over medium heat and place the tortillas into the pan pressing down to make them crispy on the edges with a nutty taste.

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Posted on April 22, 2014