Grilled fava (broad) Beans

Falling for Favas! These magic beans are so full of good juju for healthy soil, that many folks grow them more as a cover crop, than a beloved garden veggie, but one taste of these lovelies grilled will have you making them a garden favorite fast. I love tossing a few of these on the grill as appetizers to nosh on while the rest of the dinner cooks away.

The first season I grew fava beans, I was so excited to harvest these huge pods and reap all the bounty inside. Turns out, bounty was more like a handful of beans at best after shelling not once, but twice (each bean comes encased in an outer shell within the pod). Honestly, I was disappointed as I had hopes of these being the centerpiece of a meal. Plus, that was a whole lot of work shelling and shelling for just a few yummies in return.

My husband and I love sitting around our fire pit by the garden. One evening as we were grilling up some shishito peppers (so yum!), I decided to grab some favas and toss them onto the grill as well. And that’s the moment we became huge fava fans.

We noshed on those pods, popping the beans out of the pod much like an edamame, then giving a gently squish to release the delectable bean from its casing into our mouths. It was the perfect camp fire treat.

Ingredients:

Handful of fresh favas (broad) beans 

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Wash and dry whole fava pods.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil and give a sprinkling of sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Place on grill and cook for 10-12 minutes, until the pods are a bit charred.

To eat: Pop bean out of pod, just like edamame. Remove bean from white skin coating...we do this by just gently squeezing the casing and popping the bean straight into our mouth.

These are so yummy just like this, but you can up your fava game by serving these with an herbed olive oil drizzle and lemon wedges.