What the Heck do I do with Fava Beans?

Fava beans are available at our Farmers Market now. I got some last weekend and they were great - nice firm pods, plenty of beans inside.

Not many people know what to do with fava beans so they go untouched. They're easy to clean and cook - here's how I do it:


You need:

boiling water

salt

ice

tap water

2 lbs fresh fava beans, in firm pods (yields about 1 1/2 to 2 cups shelled beans)

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

salt & pepper, to taste

Prepping the beans

First, shell the beans from the fava pods. To open the pods, run the edge of a paring knife along the seam, cutting away the tough "zipper-like" edge so that the pod halves come apart.

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil, then add salt. The water should be salty, like the ocean.

At the same time in another bowl, make ice water; set aside, but near where your boiling water is.

Add the shelled beans to the boiling water cook for 3 minutes, then remove the bean pods and immediately plunge them into the ice water to stop them from cooking.

Let the beans cool, then remove them from the pods, peeling the outer skin away from each of them. Set aside

Sautéing the beans

Over medium heat, melt together butter and olive oil, then add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

Add the beans and sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes. (Your house will smell amazing!)

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Enjoy!


Note: Once you've mastered this basic fava bean prep technique, you can add other items to them like onions, fresh tomatoes, or even smoked salmon, all of which can be found at the Castro Valley Farmers Market each week.

Vendor of the Week: Polska Foods Pierogis

Polska Foods is now selling Pierogi at the Castro Valley Farmers' Market!

It was the first market where we were able to sell our Pierogi, and we had an over-whelming response. We were quite surprised how many people knew pierogi and the amount of Polish customers in the area! Thank you Castro Valley for all the warm support!

We were only sampling our Potato Cheese variety, but when it quickly sold out, we switched to our Cabbage & Mushroom pierogi. WIthin an hour, the Cabbage, Sauerkraut, & Mushroom Pierogi was gone too! We were left with selling the last bit of samples we had that went quickly like an auction for the people left standing at the booth. We promise to try and bring more next week.

If you happen to be in the area, please come by our booth and say hello and try some free samples of Pierogi. To learn more about us and our company, please visit us online.

Polska Foods Pierogi are:

100% Natural Pierogi

No Additives or Preservatives

No Growth Hormones

No MSG

Non-GMO

Frozen Fresh to maintain nutrient value and flavor

Did you get any of those delicious cherries?

Did you see the amazing cherries at the Farmer's Market this weekend? I got a 2 pound basket for $6 from EGB Farms of Ripon, California. They were half of the price I would have paid in the grocery store - $8.99 per pound for organic on 5/20.

The cherries at our house are already gone but in the event you have some left, here's a recipe for fresh cherry cobbler that I've tried in the past. Warm this with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy with neighbors, friends, or your family for a delicious Spring treat.

Actually, I think I need to get another basket of cherries this weekend so I can make this cobbler too. Heads up, neighbors... weekend cobbler alert!


Easy Fresh Cherry Cobbler
from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup milk

2 cups pitted cherries (ask your kids to remove the pits - fun!)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place the butter in a 9x13 inch baking dish, and place in the oven to melt while the oven is preheating. Remove as soon as butter has melted, about 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and baking powder. Mix in the milk until well blended, then pour the batter into the pan over the butter. Do not stir.
Rinse out the bowl from the batter, and dry. Place cherries into the bowl, and toss with the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of flour. Distribute the cherry mixture evenly over the batter. Do not stir.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. A toothpick inserted into the cobber should come out clean.

Fresh Spring Pea Salad

Fresh peas are sweet, bright, and fun to eat -the perfect finger food for kids who are old enough to chew. With the farmer's market starting in just 12 days, I'm looking forward to perhaps scoring a few pounds of fresh peas to make this family favorite. Of course, we'll add some extra feta cheese since we love cheese in our house.

If I'm correct, all but two of the ingredients in this salad are available at the farmers market from local vendors. How cool is that?!

Pea Salad with Radishes and Feta Cheese
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Recipe by Molly Stevens for Bon Appetite magazine

Ingredients
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

4 cups fresh shelled peas (from about 4 pounds peas in pods)
1 bunch radishes, trimmed, halved, thinly sliced
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
3 cups fresh pea tendrils, coarsely chopped, or pea sprouts (optional)

Heat small skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and toast until aromatic and slightly darker, about 2 minutes. Cool; grind finely in spice mill. Whisk lime juice, honey, and cumin in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil; stir in dill. Season dressing with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature.
Cook fresh peas in pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold water, then drain well. Transfer to large bowl. Add radishes, feta, and dressing; toss. Season with salt and pepper. If using pea tendrils or sprouts, divide among bowls just before serving.

It’s Asparagus Time!

Photo Courtesy of Flickr.com/calliope (Creative Commons Licensed)












Asparagus season is upon the Bay Area and markets are starting to get fresh spears of this delicious perennial cousin of the lilly family. Perhaps there will be some late season asparagus showing up in the Castro Valley Farmers Market this May!

There are many ways to prepare fresh asparagus:

Sauté spears in a pan with a few teaspoons of olive oil, salt and pepper

Boil spears in salted water with a few lemon wedges for 5 minutes

Steam asparagus spears – add 1″ of water to a shallow baking dish of spears and microwave for 5-6 minutes per pound

Grill on low for about 5 minutes – lightly brush spears with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Delicious asparagus recipes abound but here are two of my personal favorites. One was passed to me by a Castro Valley neighbor and the other was passed to me by a coworker who attends the Pinole Farmers Market on a regular basis.

Dill Tahini Sauce
From Veganomicon by Moskowitz and Romero (which by the way can be found in our very own Castro Valley Library). Use it as a salad dressing, a dip, or a sauce for cooked asparagus.
1/4 c tahini
1/4 c water
1/2 clove garlic
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
1 t balsamic vinegar
1/4 t paprika
1/8 t salt
1/2 c lightly packed fresh dill
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. So easy!

Roasted Chickpeas with Asparagus and Mint
1 pound asparagus, cut into ½ -inch pieces
2 cups canned or dried/soaked chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, toss asparagus and chickpeas with oils, salt, and pepper to taste. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and place on the center rack of the oven for 10 minutes. Stir, flip, toss, etc. the vegetables and put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until the asparagus is tender but not mushy and the chickpeas have started to caramelize. Remove and toss with fresh mint and lemon juice.

Farmers Market Fresh Dessert - Minted Berries

Fresh farmers market berries make a wonderful dessert












Want to serve dessert at a barbeque, holiday gathering, or dinner party but you don't want to serve anything too heavy? Why not serve up some fresh berries! Berries of all kinds are available in our farmers market beginning in May up until almost the end of September and early October. Many herbs, including fresh mint, can also be found in the farmers market.

Here is a quick, easy, healthy recipe using four kinds of berries found at the Castro Valley Farmers Market:

Minted Berries

3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Orange Juice
1 pint strawberries, stems removed and cut in half
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint blueberries
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, torn

Gently fold together washed strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and mint. Pour Grand Marnier or Orange Juice over the berries and serve immediately. Enjoy on their own or with some ice cream (perhaps from Knudsens?) or some whipped cream. Mmmmm!

Coming Soon: The Castro Valley Farmers Market

Produce purchased at the Castro Valley Farmers Market in August 2010 - Salsa anyone?

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The Castro Valley Farmers Market will be open before we know it. In an effort to increase participation and visitors to the market, a few citizens are getting together to start a blog and help the people of Castro Valley figure out how to use the market to their advantage and create healthy, locally sourced meals at home.

This season on the blog you can look forward to:

Reports about what's in season and available at the farmers market

Recipes from local home cooks and chefs that use products from the farmers market

Reviews of cookbooks from our local library that help utilize products found in our farmers market

Special announcements and updated about the farmers market

Here are a few ways that shopping at the Farmers Market affects our community.

We can be a healthier, more environmentally conscious Castro Valley! In the age of food preservatives and additives, genetically modified proteins and produce, and E. coli outbreaks, (remember that lettuce problem a few years ago?), many people are concerned about the quality and cleanliness of the foods they eat. For example, it's nearly impossible to identify all of the pesticides used to grow and transport a cluster of grapes grown in Chile to one of our local supermarkets and, there's no washing the pesticides away - it's in the grapes. By choosing foods grown locally, we have the power to control what we put into our bodies and the bodies of our families.

Eating locally helps the local economy. Farmers on average receive only 20 cents of each food dollar spent. The rest of the money you spend on food goes to transportation, processing, packaging, refrigeration and marketing. Farmers who sell food to local customers receive full payment for the food you purchase from them. Additionally, eating locally encourages the use of local farmland for farming, helping to keep development in check and preserving open space.

More visitors to the market mean more vendors and variety at future markets. The farmers market won't attract more vendors if it's not worth their time and effort to sell at the market. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to visit the farmers market. Make a visit to the market a brunch date! Either eat a delicious pastry, sausage roll, or piece of fruit at the market where you can also enjoy some live music and a seat in the sun or, stop at one of our local diners for breakfast or a cup of coffee and then take a spin by the market afterward.

What are you looking forward to seeing at the market this year? Post a comment, please!