Sauteed Spinach and Fava Beans
"Posted for Zaar World Tour 2005. This is an Italian side dish, despite the use of a bouquet garni, which is French. I've changed the instructions to use canned fava beans. Vegetables and starch in one healthy, quick, low-fat recipe. From Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean. I have not tried this yet. Update: Tried this with 15 ounces spinach as per Toni's suggestion. It was quite good - BF liked it too. After 30 minutes the water in the beans will be just about completely evaporated or absorbed. My only suggestion is to add a bit of water with the spinach, and cook longer than 1 minute."
photo by Houmous Monster
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Serves:
-
3
ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can fava beans, drained and rinsed
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- bouquet garni (available in some markets or combine 3 sprigs parsley, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 sprig fresh thyme)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 10 ounces prewashed ready-to-eat spinach
- salt
- 1⁄8 lemons (optional) or 1/8 lime wedge (optional)
- roasted red pepper (optional)
- 1⁄8 tomatoes, wedge (optional)
- 4 olives (optional)
directions
- Place beans in medium pot. Add water to cover beans and bring to boil. Add bouquet garni and cover, leaving lid slightly ajar.
- Simmer 30 minutes. Drain beans and discard bouquet garni.
- Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until it turns golden, about 5 minutes (important - do not let garlic burn). Remove garlic with slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add cayenne and then stir in spinach, cover and let cook about 1 minute, until wilted. Season with salt.
- Mound spinach onto large serving plate, top with beans and sprinkle with browned garlic. Add garnishes if desired.
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Reviews
-
The recipe is quite easy to cook, and doesn't require much monitoring, making it easy to concentrate on other parts of the meal. I used broad beans (the UK equivalent of fava beans) but they didn't turn out as dark as Toni's picture. I wonder if there is a regional difference which is why my results weren't as good. The beans really did pick up the flavour of the herbs though. I quite like spinach in things, but I'm afraid this is my second attempt at wilted spinach, and it seems I just don't like it. -
As a spinach lover, I would probably cook 2 bags next time. Otherwise, the dish was superb. The wonderful flavor of the beans, the crispy bites of garlic all come together into a tasty treat. I used some rather large fava beans and thought they were a nice texture contrast to the softness of the spinach. Delicious.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Kumquat the Cats fr
New York City, 72
<p>Clockwise from upper left, my dear friends Cranberry, Quincy, Kumquat and Kiwi. All of our cats were born in the wild and adopted by us. Zaar Chefs I have met so far: Elmotoo, justcallmeToni, ~Rita~, Midwest Maven, Bird&Buddha (both of them) and most recently, Ms*Bindy from upstate New York:) Wonderful, sweet, friendly people and great chefs! Most relevant thing to mention here is that I am a vegetarian, and recently became a vegan (almost 100%). To put vegetables and other things not meat or fish on the table I work as an actuary (in my case anyway, a combination of statistician, number-cruncher and/or programmer). For fun I like to travel. Just came back from Namibia, a peaceful democracy in Africa with lots of animals! Got some terrific pictures of lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, rhinocerous, hyenas, all kinds of antelopes, giraffes and zebras. Namibia is the second most sparsely populated country per square mile, just behind Mongolia. Update: We went to Italy this Spring. We had lots of pizza and pasta. The pizza is so much better in Italy, particularly the crust. The Amalfi coast was absolutely beautiful. Spectacular natural scenery (Canada and Alaska are really beautiful, Patagonia in Chile is sublime, Iceland is unique) has been my latest passion as far as travel destinations but I have seen quite a few big cities too (Paris, Berlin, London and Madrid to name a few). On my bulletin board at work I keep a list of every country I've visited (other than the U.S. of course). So far I've made it to five continents: Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and North America of course. I've got only two other continents to conquer:) I don't usually have difficulty finding vegetarian dishes here in the U.S. or overseas, but finding vegan dishes is much harder. I have no kids, just cats, Kumquat, Cranberry, and more recently Quincy and Kiwi. They are purebreds, of the breed alley caticus (okay, American shorthair I guess). Our cats are not vegetarians, though my boyfriend (significant other, long-term partner, whatever) is. I am a friend of all animals both tamed and wild. In addition I am a freethinker and my boyfriend studies philosophy. Either way, we get along pretty well. Also, please allow me to say that my BF and I recently bought a condominium in NYC.:) Pet peeve? Okay, I don't like public scenes, especially parents yelling at their children, lovers' spats, etc. If it must be done please do it in private:D Participation & Awards:</p>
