Yesterday afternoon I set Julia up in the foyer with some tubs and together we shelled fava beans and fresh peas. I think she had a good time exploring.

 

She kept talking about making "Peas! Making surprise for Daddy! Peas!" and "I cookin’ it!" and "Peas pop out! Where are yoooouuu?" Of course, I didn’t tell her Daddy hates peas.

The sad thing is that I had a large box full of fresh favas. Then it was a bowl full. Then after blanching to pinch them out of their skins, I ended up with MAYBE half a cup. Oy. What a lot of work for so little favas.

It’s the first time I’ve had them (fresh or otherwise) so I went with the "Warm Garlicky Fava Beans" recipe from Vegetarian times as inspiration and scaled it down as best I could.  

 

 Julia got to taste her handiwork though.

 Like me she was indifferent. Take it or leave it. They were soft and slightly sweet, but if I’m going to eat immature legumes I prefer peas. It’s got a nicer taste. These reminded me of a cross between peas and limas and I can’t stand limas so…

I’m going to have to give it another try after I find a more interesting sounding recipe and enough favas to make it with.