Strange veges

I often find strange veges at the market stall where we buy our fresh food. A few months ago a friend encouraged me to buy turnip greens which I had never heard of. He also showed me what to do with them and we have since become dedicated fans of these leaves. This week, I spied gigantic beans on the market stall so I purchased a few handfuls of them. As soon as we arrived home, I sought the assistance of internet to figure out what they were and what to do with them. It turns out that my mega beans were broad beans which I utterly abhorred as a child! Since the website also called them fava beans, which I have heard good things about, I read on. I learned that these beans actually have two shells: the thick outside pod as well as a soft shell on each bean! I was instructed to remove the light green beans from the pod and parboil them in their soft shells, then remove the soft shell and parboil the dark green bean. Well, I'm afraid I didn't get as far as the dark green bean because the bean in its soft shell (previously known as a broad bean) was exquisitely sweet! How could I discard all that soft shell fibre when it already tasted so good? I put them aside for dinner but admit to spending the afternoon snacking on them. Luckily there were just enough left to show a little green in the pasta I cooked for dinner...

Fava beans in their pod (left) and their soft shell (right)

Fava beans in our pasta

 

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