Heidi’s Grilled Fava Beans

I was already sold with Heidi’s original recipe and photos, but it was Ashley’s images that really put me over the edge. As soon as I saw her recap, I couldn’t get it out of my mind — grilled fava beans! How was that even possible? Did you have to shell them after they were cooked? Would they get limp and soggy? Was it really worth the effort? But we set out to Jean-Talon Marche, where Joe, our favorite dude at Birri, informed us that their most recent batch of favas were young and tender enough that the pods within could be eaten whole — no shelling required — and raw. I was sold. We went home that night and grilled a fistful of favas in a light marinade of lemon juice, grapeseed oil, and plentyof flaky sea salt. It was like a heartier version of the traditional edamame — just terrific, and a unique addition to your barbecue repertoire.

Full recipe here.

IT’S THE RIGHT THING

Oh, the thrills of being with someone equally passionate about food. There seem to be three distinct phases to our enjoyment of food: brainstorming, cooking, and consumption. We’re always scheming about what to cook next — Richard Olney’s cold ratatouille, cheeseburgers on the grill ala Clyde Commons, Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry boy bait — so it’s easy to imagine how quickly things get out of control when we’re sharing a kitchen. This lamb lunch was particularly spectacular.

Fried lamb livers with herbed Greek yogurt: I can’t take credit for the addictively crispy livers, coated in faint crunch of floured crust, but I watched from a safe distance. We picked up two lamb livers super cheap at a meat stall at the farmer’s market, along with a pair of lamb shanks that I cooked for dinner a few days earlier (braised in the Tom Valenti style — highly recommended, although unfortunately I didn’t get any photos).

Diced lamb livers get dredged in a spiced-flour mixture and fried in bacon grease, minced garlic, and butter until golden and crispy. They lose a lot of their ‘bloody’ taste and have the most amazing mouthfeel — really smooth and firm. We topped it with a cool yogurt to counteract the powerful liver flavor — Greek yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup of finely minced herbs (I used mint, basil, parsley, cilantro, and scallions), salt and pepper — and topped that gorgeous pile of meat with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, olive oil and plenty of lemon wedges.

Fava beans with mint, lemon and pecorino: I spent a pretty peaceful 20 minutes shelling fresh fava beans from our farmer’s market. It was my first time, and I found the monotony relaxing (not surprising: I love chopping + peeling + sorting large amounts of anything). These were quickly blanched for about 45 seconds, and tossed with generous amounts of olive oil, fluffy grated pecorino, diced mint and the juice of one lemon.

Blanched haricot vert + baby carrots: This was a no-brainer. Mini food is one of my favorite things in the whole world, and little bundles of baby green beans and carrots stuck out to us at the farmer’s market. I trimmed the beans and quartered the carrots lengthwise and then lightly blanched them in salted, simmering water for 3 minutes. I think they look so fancy on the plate!