Fava Beans à la Turque (Zeytinyağlı İç Bakla)

Fava beans, aka faba, broad, Windsor, or horse beans, are among the oldest cultivated plants. Although they've been planted and enjoyed in the Middle East, Europe, and South America for millenniums, favas took their sweet time to appear at American markets. I did not eat or try fava beans for the first 25 years of my life; yes, what a waste! In my defense mom cooked them in pods, in those slightly fuzzy pods.

As a kid it seemed like eating caterpillars! I am still reluctant about the pods. The shelled beans, however, are a different story. Fava beans are slightly sweet and have a mild grassy flavor fit for spring. In Turkey, when they're picked young and tender, without letting the beans grow much, they're cooked in pods and served with a gallop of garlicy yogurt on the side. When they're picked a bit later, when the shells and beans got bigger, they are shucked and the beans are peeled to remove the waxy coat. The schucking is easy and fast, and peeling the beans is a bit time consuming, yet totally necessary to perfect the dish. What follows is a traditional springtime olive oil dish recipe for fava beans.

1 pound fresh fava beans, shelled and peeled or 1 pound frozen fava beans (easily available at Middle Eastern markets)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
1/2 bunch of green onions, finely chopped
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1 tsp white sugar
salt, a little more than 1 tsp
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup of water
1 tsp flour
juice of half lemon

-Before you peel the beans, mix 1 cup of water with flour and lemon juice. Place beans in the water one by one after peeling to prevent browning. If you boil the beans in water for 30 seconds and blench them it would be much easier to peel them.
-Heat half of the olive oil in a pot and add onions. Cook until soft. Don't let them brown--a big no for olive oil dishes.
-Add sugar, green onions, and garlic. Cook 1 minute or until garlic is fragrant.
-Add fava beans with the water they've been sitting in.
-Salt to your taste.
-Make sure the water covers the beans.
-Bring it to a boil on medium and then turn it down to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until beans are cooked.
-Let it cool down in its pot with the lid on before moving it to a serving dish.
-Favas in olive oil like all Turkish olive oil dishes are served and best when at room temperature or cold.
-Drizzle the other half of the olive oil on top and serve with chopped fresh dill.

This dish is usually enjoyed with a nice big slice of crusty bread and garlicy yogurt sauce, but it's still delicious without it.

Garlicy Yogurt
For every cup of yogurt use 1/2 clove minced garlic. If you can handle garlic, raise the amount. Do not go beyond 1 clove per 1 cup of yogurt; others may not handle the garlic on you. Mix yogurt and garlic well, salt to your taste, and serve this sauce on the side of fava beans or on top.

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Roasted Beet Hummus (Pancarlı Humus)

In my first couple of years in the US, I couldn’t get over how popular hummus was in this country. I was surprised because hummus had managed to become popular despite how it was prepared and served: dense in texture and bland in flavor. It wasn’t anything like how we prepare and serve it—and Turks are not even the masters of it. Back home hummus is soft and airy in texture; light, lemony9, and spiced in flavor. It is served in shallow plates, never in deep bowls. You cannot be parsimonious with lemon juice, water, and olive oil; a good hummus needs them.

My experimentations with hummus have a lot to do with having kids. Realizing what a nutritious, not just delicious, snack it was I started adding or hiding colorful vegetables in hummus. Beets are just one of them and absolutely our family favourite. 

    

1 small to medium beet root

1 ½ cups cooked check peas

2 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1-1 ½ lemons

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup yogurt

Salt

4 tbsp olive oil (3 in and 1 for the top)

Water (even better cooking water from the chickpeas) as necessary

Optional

Paprika

Cumin

Sesame seeds

Nigella seeds

Parsley

-The Beet: Wash well and then cut the bottom and top parts of the beet root. Cut the beet into four or, if it’s a big one, 8 pieces. Toss with a little bit of olive oil, place on a parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes in a preheated oven at 400F. (Do not discard the stems and leaves if they came with those. Try this beet greens with olive oil recipe.)

-The Chickpeas: I always buy chickpeas in bulk, soak them in water overnight, and then boil them until cooked for 1-1 ½ hours. It is best to use them right when they’re warm since the skins will be soft and easy to be smoothened by the blender.

Most authentic way of making hummus requires peeling the skins off. I find it very time consuming and have figured out an easy way out; If you are using canned chickpeas, put them in a pot with water and boil for 5-10 minutes to soften the skin.

I take what I need and freeze the rest of the chickpeas in jars filled with 1-2 cups for later use.

-Put tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice in the blender and run until smooth.

-Add the beet (~1 cup) and blend.

-Add chickpeas, yogurt, and salt.  

-Add water to thin. Humus should be soft and fluffy. It most definitely should not be like a paste.

-Taste and add more lemon juice, salt, or water.

-Ways to serve: Hummus is usually served in a wide shallow bowl in Turkey, never in a dip bowl. For regular hummus, we usually heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a small pan. When it’s hot, before it burns, we add paprika and let sizzle for 5 seconds. Then pour it over the hummus on its serving plate. Chopped parsley is another way to serve it. Some people like to drizzle olive oil and sprinkle cumin powder on top—this is my least favorite. I like to serve beet hummus with chopped parsley or dill on top or with sesame or nigella seeds. All is delicious.

-Traditionally, hummus is scooped with bread/pita bread; however, it’s good with pita chips, crackers, and fresh vegetables.    

     

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Turkish Style Fresh Borlotti Beans (Barbunya Pilaki)

It is barbunya beans season. These delicious nutty beans with red or dark purple speckles packed with a long list of health benefits (google it!) are also called borlotti, cranberry, roman (not the Italian green ones), or October beans. In Turkey these reddish delicious beans are named after yet another red deliciousness: the Mediterranean red mullet, aka barbunya, from the Greek barbounia. 

Barbunya beans arrive at the farmer's markets in Turkey in midsummer, in pods, and when they do arrive they immediately become the most expensive item on the carts. Since people wait for their arrival for so long, at the time of their arrival they’re ready to pay whatever—it’s definitely a seller’s market. By the end of the summer and end of the barbunya season, however, barbunya stocks start to go down and barbunya lovers invest in kilos and kilos of barbunyas. They pod them and keep them in the freezer for the long barbunya deprived winter. Although you can find dry barbunyas year around, fresh barbunyas are always, and I cannot emphasize this enough, always preferred to dried ones.

Barbunyas are always cooked the same way in Turkish cuisine, i.e. vegetarian, in generous amount of olive oil with tomatoes. Cooked in any other way, it’s considered a pity, a total waste. “The” barbunya dish, the Istanbul style, is called barbunya pilaki. The word pilaki also comes from Greek (remember “gigantes plaki”?) and in its Turkish form, the word is a generic name for a dish of vegetables or seafood slowly braised with onion, garlic, and tomatoes in olive oil and served cold or at room temperature. However, although there are scrumptious seafood pilakis, the name in time happened to be associated only with bean pilakis, cannellini and barbunya, to be specific. This is my recipe for barbunya pilaki.

Barbunya pilaki is traditionally made with potatoes and carrots; however, I really do not like potatoes in this dish; I strongly believe that potatoes cloud the flavor of barbunyas. I replace potatoes for green sweet peppers, or in their absence, with sweat Italian peppers.

I usually cook barbunyas in pressure cooker, since it’s faster. You can use this recipe with regular or instant pots as well.

serves ~4

2 lb of fresh barbunyas in pod, pod them. Sometimes when they are very fresh, the pods are firm and hard to pod. If that's the case, leave them in a fabric bag for a day or two to breathe and loosen up. 

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or thinly sliced

1 potato, peeled and diced

OR, if you want to try my version 3-4 sweet green peppers, chopped in small pieces

1 carrot, cut in half or quarter moons

2 big tomatoes, grated or crushed in a food processor

1/3 cup olive oil, for starters and if you’re ready for it add a heaping tbsp more (we do believe in olive oil)

1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

1 cup hot water

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp or more salt

-Pod all the beans. Your 2 lb fresh barbunya beans will diminish to ~1 lb once podded. They might come in different sizes and colors, all fine. Don’t be alarmed; they will loose their bright colors and turn brownish once cooked. Still, all good.

-Add olive oil in your pot and once warmed up add onions. Cook for 4-5 minutes on medium to high heat until softened.

-Add sugar, garlic, peppers or potatoes, and carrots, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

-If you think your tomatoes won’t give a vibrant red color, which happens a lot, you can use tomato paste. If so, add it now and cook for a minute.

-Add barbunyas and tomatoes, and stir for a minute or two.

-Add water and salt.

-If you’re using a pressure cooker, cover and cook on low after the steam comes out for 16-18 minutes. (I have a young clientele who like soft food, so I go for 18 minutes). If you’re using a regular pot, cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes on low until beans are cooked. Check now and then to make sure it doesn’t run out of water. If it does, boil some water before adding more.  

-Once it is cooked, let it cool down to room temperature in its pot with the lid on.

Barbunya pilaki is a traditional olive oil dish and like all olive oil dishes it is served at room temperature or cold, with lemon slices. A splash of lemon juice brightens up barbunyas in unimaginable ways. Serve with grilled meat, with rice on the side or with crusty bread. It’ll keep in the fridge for a week.

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