Saturday, September 4, 2010

One bean, two bean, three bean, four!


Three bean, four bean, five bean and tomato salad
I've had such a craving for legumes lately.  Clean, satisfying proteins.  I decided between fresh beans/peas and the delicious heirloom tomatoes, i would make a bean and tomato salad.

When i was at the farmer's market i bought a variety of beans -- blackeyed peas, some kind of a bean in a purple hull, and fava beans (one of my favorites).  They're all so beautiful in their raw state.  It's a shame they lose their vibrant color when you cook them.  And i also had chickpeas that i had cooked up and froze, although not quite sure what i plan to do with all of them.  Fava beans are interesting -- they're in a thick and padded hull.  The inside of the hull has almost a cotton-like padding.  And still, with this thick hull, the beans are in yet another shell-like compartment.  Once you cook them out of the hull, you have to yet again take off the outside layer of the bean.  I've heard people say that, to cook fava beans, is a labor of love, and i agree.  They're time consuming, but in my opinion, well worth the effort. 
Fava beans, blackeyed peas, and purple-hulled beans.

The well-protected fava bean.



Beautiful beans.
I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, so i took all the beans out of their pods or hulls and boiled them

A beany jacuzzi
Once the beans were cook, i drained them and immediately put them in an ice bath so that they would keep their colors.  I then marinated them in olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, fresh oregano, a sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. 






 I then sliced a delicious heirloom tomato and spooned the bean mixture over the tomato slices.


Voila! 

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