More Favas, More Peas, More Spring
On occasion I will have the amazing opportunity to present a seasonal salad or recipe to my fellow coworkers using the seasonal ingredients available in the market. Of course my first thought is to use fava beans and of course I'm going to integrate them into a salad. Because of my Middle Eastern background I immediately am drawn to the flavors of dill and yogurt as the complementing factors of this salad.
I wanted to keep this salad creamy, but light as well as fresh and interesting in textures. There's a lot going on in here and a lot of room for substitutions when certain ingredients aren't available, but no matter what the flavor profiles and the textures within the salad are really what makes it successful.
There are a fair amount of individual steps in executing this salad, but well worth the effort. Each component adds a different and essential flavor profile that makes it much more interesting and palatable to eat.
Fava Bean | English Pea Salad
with Labne Dill Dressing
2 cups shelled fava beans, peels still on
1 cup shelled English peas
2 stalks green garlic, cut thinly on the bias
1 dozen ramps or spring onions
½ cup walnuts, toasted
1 bunch breakfast radishes, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 lb sugar snap peas, cut roughly on the bias
2 lemons, juiced and zested
3 handfuls pea shoots
½ cup labne yogurt
1 cup distilled vinegar
½ cup sugar
1 chili pepper (arbol, etc)
¼ cup black sesame seeds
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup mint leaves
½ cup roughly chopped dill.
2+ tbsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Begin by blanching the shelled fava beans in order to get off the second layer of skin; boil a pot of salted water and drop in the fava beans for 30-45 seconds, then remove and submerge into an ice water bath until completely cooled. Once fava beans are cooled, the second peel comes off with ease.
Complete these steps with the English peas, except there is no extra layer to peel.
Next is to pickle the green garlic. Bring the distilled vinegar, sugar, the chili and 2 tbsp of salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. When desired heat is reached, turn off the heat and add the green garlic to the pot. Set aside and let pickle for the duration of the recipe.
The next steps is to char the spring onions or the ramps. In order to do so, place the cleaned alliums over an open flame and continuously rotate them until completely charred, or black. Once blackened on all sides, remove from heat and set aside until completely cooled. Then they can be roughly chopped.
To make the dressing, combine the labne, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and zest and dill in a mixing bowl. Combine well and season with salt and the freshly ground pepper. Set aside until ready to use.
Now that each ingredient has been prepped, combine the blanched and shelled fava beans, blanched English peas, sugar snap peas and radishes in a large bowl. Add the walnuts, sesame seeds, mint leaves and some of the pea shoots. Add a decent amount of the dressing and give the salad a quick gentle toss with hands or serving spoons. Add the remaining pea shoots and give a quick toss to incorporate the dressing to the entire salad. Use more dressing if necessary. Transfer salad into a serving bowl and finish with additional salt and a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve cold or at room temperature!