Easy Salad with Fava Beans Recipe

This is one of my favorite fava beans recipes, a favas and bacon salad that can be also served as a side dish, or a simple meal in itself. It's also perfect for potlucks, as it can be served at room temperature and keeps very well.

Why I ❤️ it • Recipe • Ingredients • Preparation

Bacon, veggies, and fava beans recipe.

Why I ❤️ it

Every time I find some fresh fava beans at the grocery store I take some to make this dish, but I recently discovered that dried fava beans or canned fava beans are nearly equally as good, and they're much less work.

We grew fava beans in our backyard when I was a kid, and made it into a rice and beans dish, but there's so much more than can be made with it. This recipe includes so many flavors that rather than compete, complement each other.

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Utensils and tools

• Medium pot
• Large bowl

Ingredients

• 2 cups of dry fava beans or broad beans (see recipe for how to boil them), or 4 cups of boiled or canned fava beans
• Ice water to cool the beans
• 8 ounces of bacon, [227 g]
• 1 large white onion, sliced thinly
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1½ teaspoon of salt, (or more, to taste)
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground), (or more, to taste)
• A handful of parsley or green onions minced

Preparation

Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.

Step 1: How to cook dried fava beans

Note: jump to step 2 if you use canned beans.

Soaking fava beans

In a large bowl, soak the fava beans for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Rinse and discard the water.

Boiling fava beans

Place the beans in a large pot and add enough tap water to cover it plus 3 cups. Boil the favas until the beans are tender (test by pinching one), and the skin starts to become loose (this will depend on the freshness and quality of the beans and may take up to 40 minutes).

Peeling fava beans

Remove the beans from the heat and drain the boiling water. Pour the beans into a bowl of ice water. Let the beans cool to room temperature. Once cooled, discard the cold water.

Press each bean between your thumb and finger to break out of the hard skin as it opens in the seam. Discard the skins.

Step 2: Browning the bacon

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and once heated add the bacon to it.

Cook stirring until the edges are browned (3-5 minutes). Discard the bacon fat.

Step 3: Cooking the onion

Lower temperature to medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook stirring until the onion turns translucent (about 2 minutes).

Step 4: Cooking the beans

Stir in the fava beans, bell pepper, and tomatoes and cook stirring until it is just heated through (about 1 minute).

Pour in the vinegar, olive oil and cook stirring for another minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the parsley.

Step 5: Serving

Serve at room temperature. Put extra vinegar or lemon juice on the table for those who prefer it more sour.

Top tips

To make the preparation time much faster, use canned or jarred fava beans and skip to step 2.

Variations

You can add extra ingredients like sweet corn, shaved parmesan cheese, and even leftover rice if you prefer.

Other choices for this dish and to make it faster, is to use canned edamame, lima beans or butter beans.

Make a fava bean salad with potatoes by boiling a large potato or two small potatoes and cutting them into cubes, add to the preparation along with the beans in step 4.

Serving suggestions

Serve as a side dish, as a summer-friendly dinner or a mid-afternoon snack.

Nutritional information

Calories: 480kcal - Carbohydrates: 25g - Protein: 9gFat: 38g - Saturated Fat: 15g - Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g - Monounsaturated Fat: 17g - Cholesterol: 36mg - Sodium: 646mg - Potassium: 382mg - Fiber: 7g - Sugar: 4g - Vitamin A: 639IU - Vitamin C: 27mg - Calcium: 48mg - Iron: 2mg

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FAQs

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