Fava beans, also known as broad beans, are eaten nearly every day in some cultures and almost never in others. Throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, the bean is embedded in food cultures, with certain dishes and ways of serving that feature both the fresh and dried varieties, which have different characteristics. I’m going to focus on the fresh beans since they’re in season now.
Favas are one of the most ancient plants. According to Wikipedia, “scientists now believe that the domestication of the crop may have begun as early as 8,250 BCE.” It is also one of the easiest crops to grow. They are extremely hardy, can overwinter, and being a legume are often used as a cover crop to fix nitrogen in the soil. Nutrition-wise, they are a rich source of fiber, and one cup of fresh beans offers 10 grams of protein.
When very young, the pods can be eaten in their entirety, both the seed/beans and the spongy pod. I find picking the raw beans out of that white spongy pod interior really pleasurable. You can also eat the tendrils and leaves. Each little individual bean has an outer coating that provides a lot of fiber. When the beans are young and small, that outer layer is easily eaten. But once the bean grows, that layer gets tougher and more assertive in flavor. Some people love it, others prefer to push each individual bean out of their cocoon. I used to give this job to my mother. She complained but did it to help me. I find the process kind of meditative, especially if I’m cooking for just a few people. All that said, yes you can buy them frozen, out of the pod at your local Persian grocery.
The queen of fava bean dishes is the Persian rice dish baghali polo — made with basmati rice, saffron, copious amounts of dill, and fresh fava beans. Photo by Shutterstock.
Preparing fresh fava beans invites you to enjoy the celadon green color, so often people will use them for purees that can be fashioned into dips or used for stuffed pastas, on crostini, or swirled into pasta or risotti. They’re wonderful double peeled and lightly cooked in olive oil or butter with aromatics like shallots and garlic. The young pods can be grilled or sauteed or boiled, then dressed like salad. They also make a surprising falafel color-wise. And the Turkish chef Öslem Warren prepares them several ways with both olive oil and in yogurt. Here are 18 ideas from Bon Appetit. But the queen of all green fava dishes is the dill-inflected Persian rice dish baghali polo. It’s often served as an accompaniment to fish or lamb shanks, but can easily make a meal on its own with a yogurt salad as an accompaniment.