Plaisir d’été – Salade de fèves, poivrons grillés, feta et menthe sur carpaccio de tomates

saladefeveweb

It looks like summer is coming…at least in San Francisco, it might be a false alarm, but I am in such a summer mood those days. Today is a very hot day, sunny, no wind (what a day for the city, the wind is part of every day life and sometimes I wish it would stop), so a perfect day for a light, crunchy and flavorful salad. Today was the Bay-to-breaker run in San Francisco and the city was very empty for a Saturday afternoon…I hope no one fainted with this heat.

Fava beans have been a part of my diet since I was a child. Italians are very fond of it, my mom used to eat it with its skin on and some salt. When they’re small you can keep the skin, but the ones you buy on the stores tend to have a thick skin, so you have to remove it. They’re high in protein, light and a wonderful bean to use with pasta, salad, or side dishes.

Ingredients for 2

  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1/2 lb fava beans
  • 2 tbs feta
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 1 tbs mint
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tbs avocado oil
  • tabasco
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Roast red belle pepper in the broiler. Peel and cut in small squares. 

Remove beans from pods, and cook them in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain and peel. To remove then skin, it’s quite easy, the skin is think but comes out by itself. Place peeled fava bean in a bowl, add, feta, red peppers, mint, tabasco, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Slice the tomatoes thinly with a slicer, drizzle some avocado oil, salt and pepper and place nicely in a plate. Spoon the fava bean salad on top and serve with toasted country bred.