Connections: Beans, Beans and More Beans
By Nancy Yergin, MS,
RD, LDN, Forest County Penn State Extension
It's July and the
backyard garden is thriving. I've eaten most of the romaine lettuce already
and the sugar snap peas on their trellis are giving up their last, sweet and
crunchy pods to me and the dogs that follow me around the paths. Breakfast
in the garden is a treat and both dogs relish the occasional pod I pass
down.
I've got beans,
beans, and more beans this summer. I am trialing four varieties of Italian
green beans for a small company in Massachusetts that imports seeds commonly
grown in Italy to gardeners here in the States. The seeds were plunked in
the warm earth about a week before Memorial Day and they were up by the
holiday. All I have to do is report their progress to the seed company and
track the success or failure at the end of the growing season. The three
pole bean varieties are up beyond six feet and the bush beans are thick and
strong.
In another bed I have
Fava beans growing and I'll be harvesting them this week. Fava beans (Vicia
faba), are actually a member of the pea family, and are one of the oldest
known cultivated plants. Favas are also known by an amazing variety of other
names: broad beans, Windsor beans, horse beans, and even pigeon beans.
Frequently dried,
fava beans have been a part of cuisines all around the Mediterranean and the
Chinese have eaten them for more than 5000 years. They've been found in some
of the earliest known human settlements and are referred to in legends and
lore throughout recorded history.
Fava beans are easy
to grow. You don't have to wait for warm soil to plant them. Favas are tough
plants that thrive in cool soil and shrug off light frosts. I planted mine
in March when I also planted the sugar snaps. They don't vine but grow over
two feet tall and show stylish black and white flowers in early June.
Fresh fava beans come
in large, long (7 to 9 inch) thick pods with a white blanket-like padding
inside to protect the pretty beans they carry. They look just like sleeping
bags for the beans. The beans themselves look like small to medium-sized
lima or butter beans.
Unless you have a
vegetable garden or access to a fully-stocked green grocer in an ethnic
neighborhood, fresh fava beans may be difficult to find in these rural
counties. If you are lucky enough to find them, store fava bean pods in a
plastic bag in the crisper section of the refrigerator. Although best used
within a few days, they will keep up to a week. Store shelled, cooked, and
peeled fava beans in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Fava beans need to be
shelled (removed from their pods). To open the pods just pull on the stem at
the top to unzip the string down either side of the pod, then gently push
the pod open between your thumb and forefingers. Pop the beans out. Cook
shelled beans in a large saucepan in plenty of boiling water until just
tender, about 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of the bean. Drain well
and rinse with
cold water to cool.
Using the tip of a
knife or your thumbnail, slit the translucent skin covering the bean, peel
it off and discard. Don't skip this step as the skin is very bitter and no
amount of seasonings will mask it. (Trust me; I know.) Use the peeled cooked
beans as appetizers, in salads or in recipes. Fava beans are high in fiber,
high in iron, and very low in sodium. They have no cholesterol and are low
in fat. A cup of boiled Favas has 33 grams of total carbohydrates, 9 grams
of dietary fiber, and less than 200 calories.
Penn State is
committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its
workforce.
