Egyptian Fava Bean Salad Bagula Recipes

Steps:

• Pare and seed cucumber; cut cucumber lengthwise into eighths; dice.
• In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
• Toss well and serve at room temperature or warm slightly.
• EACH SERVING (1 cup) PROVIDES: 3/4 Fat, 1 1/4 Vegetables, 1/4 Protein, 2 Breads, 10 Optional Calories.
• PER SERVING: 241 Calories, 12 g Protein, 9 g Fat, 32 g Carbohydrate, 33 mg Sodium, 0 mg Cholesterol, 8 g Dietary Fiber; 4 points.

Steps:

• As the cooking time varies depending on the quality and age of the beans, it is good to cook them in advance and to reheat them when you are ready to serve. Cook the drained beans in a fresh portion of unsalted water in a large saucepan with the lid on until tender, adding water to keep them covered, and salt when the beans have softened. They take 2-2 1/2 hours of gentle simmering. When the beans are soft, let the liquid reduce. It is usual to take out a ladle or two of the beans and to mash them with some of the cooking liquid, then stir this back into the beans. This is to thicken the sauce.
• Serve the beans in soup bowls sprinkled with chopped parsley and accompanied by Arab bread.
• Pass round the dressing ingredients for everyone to help themselves: a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil, the quartered lemons, salt and pepper, a little saucer with the crushed garlic, one with chili-pepper flakes, and one with ground cumin.
• The beans are eaten gently crushed with the fork, so that they absorb the dressing.
• Optional Garnishes
• Peel hard-boiled eggs-1 per person-to cut up in the bowl with the beans.
• Top the beans with a chopped cucumber-and-tomato salad and thinly sliced mild onions or scallions. Otherwise, pass round a good bunch of scallions and quartered tomatoes and cucumbers cut into sticks.
• Serve with tahina cream sauce (page 65) or salad (page 67), with pickles and sliced onions soaked in vinegar for 30 minutes.
• Another way of serving ful medames is smothered in a garlicky tomato sauce (see page 464).
• In Syria and Lebanon, they eat ful medames with yogurt or feta cheese, olives, and small cucumbers.
• Variations
• A traditional way of thickening the sauce is to throw a handful of red lentils (1/4 cup) into the water at the start of the cooking.
• In Iraq, large brown beans are used instead of the small Egyptian ones, in a dish called badkila, which is also sold for breakfast in the street.

Steps:

• Cut asparagus stalks on a long diagonal into 1/8-inch-thick slices, leaving 1-inch-long tips (reserve tips separately).
• Blanch asparagus tips (but not sliced stalks) in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes, then immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking.
• Return water to a boil and blanch fava beans 1 minute, then immediately transfer with slotted spoon to ice water to stop cooking. Drain asparagus tips and beans and gently peel skins from beans (it's not necessary to peel edamame, if using).
• Toss beans and asparagus (blanched tips and raw sliced stalks) in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil and salt and pepper to taste, then divide among 4 plates. Toss arugula with remaining tablespoon oil and salt and pepper to taste and mound on top of vegetables. Shave thin slices of cheese over salad with a vegetable peeler (use about half of piece), then drizzle with vinegar.

Steps:

• 1. If using DRIED beans: Drain beans and place in a 4-qt. saucepan, cover with water by 2″, and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until tender, about 50 minutes. Note: You can also cook the beans in a crock pot or pressure cooker.
• 2. If using CANNED beans: Rinse beans well in a strainer. Set aside to drain.
• 3. Drain beans, and transfer to a bowl; add olive oil, parsley, dill, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper; let sit for 30 minutes to meld flavors before serving. Best flavor @ room temperature.

Steps:

• Bring a pan of water to the boil, lower in the eggs and boil for 8 mins. Drain and run under the cold tap to cool them a little, then peel and halve. Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp water with the tahini to make a dressing.
• Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic for 5 mins to soften them. Add the ground cumin and seeds, stir briefly then add the beans and lightly crush some of them as you heat them, adding some of the juice from the can to get a nice creamy consistency but keeping whole beans, too. Taste and add lemon juice and just a little seasoning if you need to.
• Spoon the beans on to plates with the lettuce, then add the eggs and tomatoes, with the tahini dressing, chilli and parsley, if using.

Steps:

• If you want to reduce the salt content of the feta, cut it into chunks and soak in cold water for an hour.
• Score the cucumbers with the tines of a fork, and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds - a grapefruit spoon or melon baller works well. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt, and let them stand for about 1/2 hour.
• Then rinse, pat dry, and slice the cucumbers into 1/2 inch chunks.
• In a medium serving bowl, crush the feta with a fork and mix it with the scallions, lemon juice, oil, and pepper.
• Combine the cucumber chunks with the cheese mixture.
• Sprinkle the salad with the mint.
• It can sit in the refrigerator before serving, but try not to hold it more than an hour or it will get watery.