In the summer, when I get a chance, I love to make the trek down to the
Richmond Country Farms market. Their local produce is fantastic, fresh and cheap! On my latest foray I bought a bag of fresh fava beans (also known as broad beans). While fava beans take a bit of work to prepare (they need to be shelled and then blanched to remove their tough outer skins) they are well worth the effort.
Now to the gilding part of my tale. Once home I scoured my cookbooks for a suitable salad that incorporated fava beans. Since it's finally gotten around to being summer on the west coast, I didn't want a heavy meal or one that would require me to turn on the oven. My solution: Lobster Salad with Fava Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Corn and Bacon. The base of the recipe is again from Suzanne Goin, but I did make some modifications (like adding fava beans). The combination was delicious.
You could go whole hog and buy a lobster or two to make this salad, but
The Lobster Man on Granville Island sells cooked lobster meat and using it makes this salad a LOT easier to prepare. For two people I bought 6 oz of lobster meat and tossed it in a salad bowl with: 5 oz of double-smoked bacon (cut in to lardons and cooked until crisp); 1 cup of fresh corn (sauteed in remaining bacon fat with thyme and salt); cherry tomatoes; 1 avocado chopped, chopped parsley, chopped basil; and 4 oz. fava beans (after prepping as above). I made a simple shallot vinaigrette for the salad and served it over butter lettuce. Yum!
I served a rose with the salad: a 2010
Domaine De Nizas from the Languedoc region of France. An elegant wine to go with an elegant salad -- and a fantastic meal that all started with a fava bean addiction.
