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| Like beans in a pod |
I love beans, they just are little dicots of happiness. Egyptians are very partial to legumes, and Fuul Mudamas is just about THE number one official Egyptian breakfast, with Taameyya [aka Falafel] being a close second. What do these two truly Egyptian dishes have in common? Fuul Heraty, or fresh Fava Beans!
Since this bean is such a staple in Egyptian cuisine, they are dried to be used all throughout the year, not only in season. But this means that we have a small window to use these nice fresh beans. This is perfect since it is now Lent, and the Egyptian Coptic Christians fast a vegan diet during these days until Easter. In Egypt, vegan food is called 'Seyami' coming from the word 'Seyam' which means Fasting. The term 'Seyami' however could include fish products, depending on which fast is ongoing.
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| Can't get much fresher than that! |
Usually, they are eaten as a snack, like our beloved Lebb [roasted watermelon or pumpkin seeds]. I recently stopped at a roadside stall and bought about 5 kilograms [about 10 lbs!] of the un-shelled legume after seeing them so fresh; they looked like they were just picked that morning! After lugging them up the stairs to my apartment, it didn't seem like that good of an idea anymore. The beans brown quickly and should be used right away after shelling. What was I going to do with all these fresh beans before they went bad? After brainstorming, I came up with some traditional and not so orthodox ways to use Fava Beans.
From soup to nuts, I found things to do with Fava Beans! I made it a point to keep it all vegan, so here is a special non-carnivore post for a change. Have a 6 course bean menu [no dessert, don't worry, I didn't get that crazy]!
Kind of felt like I was on Iron Chef when I was thinking up these recipes, or even the Futurama Iron Chef spoof episode. The secret ingredient is… SOYLENT GREEN! *drifts off and laughs*
I will post one post a day for the next week in this series, so stay tuned!
For the all Egyptian guide on how to snack on Fava [Broad] beans follow the link.
My love for stews made this a no brainer. Trying to merge traditional Egyptian style cooking in this bean stew really worked!
7- How to Store and Preserve Fava Beans
7- How to Store and Preserve Fava Beans
Beans! How do you feel about them?
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Can't tell you how much I LOVE this series of posts! Sharing on my twitter and Facebook, great stuff :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting post! I've never tried Fava beans before and I would love to add this to my diet. When I lost a lot of weight in the 3 Day Military diet, I continued being healthy by practising portion control, calorie counting and doing my daily exercise. I learned a lot about how my body responded to some food and it really helped a lot in my weight loss journey. Today, I'm eating more greens and veggies, lots of tofu and whole grains like quinoa. For more of this awesome diet here's a great resource page to guide you http://3daysmilitarydiet.com/faq/eggs-in-military-diet.html
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