Spring Salad with Fava Beans
Spring has officially sprung and I can’t help myself from eating all of the vegetables I missed during the colder months, especially fava beans. Fava beans or broad beans are super seasonal vegetables that arrive in April and are usually gone by May. Because favas are a little time intensive to shuck the easiest way to eat them is to roast them in the oven (or on the grill) whole with a little olive oil for about 5 – 7 minutes until soft. But if you have the time, they are delicious and gorgeous in a light and fresh spring salad.
The best way to shuck favas is to remove them from the pods, blanch them for a couple seconds in boiling water, plunge in ice water, then pop them out of their skins. They are time intensive but totally worth it, I promise.
In this salad I mixed the favas with some quinoa, sugar snap peas, red onion, mint and feta cheese. It is the perfect salad to welcome in the warmer weather and longer days. Plus I am sharing my all time favorite salad dressing with this recipe. The secret is in the honey and a large pinch of salt.
If you can’t find favas you can swap in English peas or even de-frosted frozen edamame.
Spring Salad with Fava Beans
Ingredients:
2 cups, cooked quinoa
1 cup fava beans, blanched and skins removed
1 cup sugar snap peas, sliced
1 cup radish, thinly sliced
½ cup mint
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup white wine or white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. honey
large pinch of salt
Method:
In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, fava beans, sugar snap peas, radish, mint and feta cheese.
In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, vinegar, honey and large pinch of salt.
Gently toss the dressing with the quinoa mixture. Taste for salt and serve
Serve 4