fava beans

Tonight Emme and I shelled and cooked 2 pounds of fava beans. About four years ago, I discovered this amazing spring delicacy.  To me, these are one of the most fantastic and funny foods ever created.  Easily confused with lima beans, they are anything but drab. Each pod is thick, nobby and downright ugly but inside is a white velvet lining which cushions the beans like they are the queen's jewels.  But the protection doesn't end there... the beans in the shell have a second lining around them.  After briefly boiling the little beans, the outer grayish green lining peels off to reveal a bright green delicate bean.  Perfectly cooked, it has a slight crunch and a very mellow taste.  I can't say what it tastes like except that it tastes like spring and is best prepared with other delicate spring flavors... green garlic, asparagus, and english peas.  Below is my favorite recipe for fava beans... kind of a fava bean pesto.

These fava beans reminded me of the sheer pleasure of preparing food, of sharing local, organic produce bought from the farmer's market with my daughter. I was reminded that it is this connection to the earth that is life-giving for me, my family and creation. I was reminded that these fava beans are a lot like people and me in particular... a little lumpy, misshapen and irregular but whose heart is tenderly held and nurtured, and when given over to grace, able to nourish others. I needed this reminder today.

Fava Bean Tagliatelle

1.5 -2 lbs fresh fava beans
1.5 cups coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 stalks green garlic or 2 cloves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
8 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine
1/3 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese

Shell the beans and cook beans in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer beans to large bowl. Reserve water in pot. •Combine approx. 3/4 cups beans, 1 cup chopped basil and garlic in processor. Using on/off turns, process until beans are coarsely chopped. •Transfer mixture to bowl with whole beans. Add remaining 1 cup basil, olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Stir to blend. Season bean mixture to taste with salt and pepper. • Meanwhile, cook pasta in same pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. •Stir 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid into bean mixture. Add to pasta. Add 1/3 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese and enough remaining cooking liquid to moisten. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes 4 first-course servings.
from farmfreshtoyou.com

today i had lunch with a fabulous woman who is on a difficult journey... questioning the faith of her childhood and choosing to struggle even though it would be much easier to either reject it altogether or accept it blindly.  that is courage.  

this is one of my favorite poems and i kept thinking about it while we were talking...

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice–

though the whole house began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!" 

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop. 

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried 

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations, 

though their melancholy 

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little, 

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly 

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do–

determined to save

the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems, Vol. 1

so tonight i am praying for my new friend and all the rest of us who are edge-dwellers... who can't not question and who struggle with truth and knowing and the unanswerable questions of life. may life in the margins draw us to others that are in the margins economically, socially, physically and emotionally and may God give us the courage to follow Her where She leads.