A Summer Garden Dinner Idea

 Vica faba or broad beans, known in the US
as fava beans. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Darn! Once again I forgot to take a picture!

We've had a great season of produce from our farmers' market so far this summer. We've had fresh peas, strawberries that put the plastic packaged varieities to shame. Last week we had some amazingly dark raspberries. 

For us the challenge is not letting our love of fresh produce go crazy. There are only the two of us, and there is only so much we can eat at one time.  

This week I have some onions, fennel, swiss chard, and fresh fava beans.  Favas, so meaty and rich, are my favorite legume.  My style is to use what I have and adapt.

I wanted something fast and not fussy. People were coming by to drop things off and I wouldn't be able to watch this constantly. When they arrived I turned off the heat. They thought it smelled great! I was in a hurry because my husband was getting home early.

I started with 135 grams of fresh, shelled fava beans. I boiled those in water for about 8 minutes, drained them and set them aside.The favas have a pod and then a thick skin. Unless it's funky, leave the skin.

on hand, dry white wine, water or chicken broth to use a minimum of oil in the saute. 

Saute in cooking spray or in some oil

1 onion, chopped

Add 

A diced sausage of preference. I used a spinach and feta chicken sausage. I imagine most others would work fine as long as they weren't sweet.

Add

a handful of fresh herbs, I had parsley, basil and oregano

1 carrot, minced or in mirepoix

1/2 clove (or more) garlic minced or pressed. 

1/2 large or an entire small bulb of fennel sliced length wise and then in half. When you prepare it remove the tougher outer leaves.

Cook, covered, stirring often until the veggies are softened adding liquid as needed.

Meanwhile clean, remove tough stems, and chop about 3 cups of swiss chard. Add it to the saute pan on top of the other vegetables while it is still wet. Turn the heat down and cook covered until wilted. Mix the whole kit and kaboodle up. Salt and pepper to taste. If you have it, a bit of fresh parsley and basil on top is nice. If you were a TV chef you would add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Serve on spiral or penne pasta or oven baked polenta (the stuff in a tube is fine slice it and bake it on a sprayed or oiled cookie sheet at 350 in a convection oven or about 400 in a regular oven).

With a good helping of parmesan or mixed Italian cheeses. If you aren't on a diet chunky pieces of Blue cheese or gorgonzola would be heavenly.

If I had pre-cooked some fresh baby artichokes and more time I could use them in place of the chard.  

I served this up with a sliced tomato drizzled with buttermilk dressing* and fresh basil leaves

*Buttermilk. To 2/3 to 1 cup buttermilk ad a chopped garlic clove, some chive or fresh scallion, salt, pepper, herbs of choice, and let sit. Before serving add some lemon juice or a light colored vinegar. Let it sit. I leave the clove in the bottle removing any that slips onto whatever. But, if you like garlic puree the whole thing in a blender. I use a tarragon vinegar, lemon or whatever strikes my fancy. This is my favorite dressing and I use fat free buttermilk so it's guilt free!

Minestrone Soup

(Photo credit: diekatrin)

I love soup, actually most one dish dinners are a big favorite for me. But, I soup it up when I want to feel full without packing on calories.  I rarely eat creamy stuff so my soups are broth based and very low fat. If one of us is under the weather soup is automatically made. If Chicken Soup is Jewish Penicillin then a hearty Minestrone is the Italian equivalent. Both nourish without adding too many calories and are very digestible.

This weekend I made a minestrone. All measurements are approximate and can be adjusted.

Il Mio Minestrone

1 pound chicken breasts (boneless skinless) or thighs   if that's your preference.

2 onions diced

1 Poblano pepper (or green or red; you could use a very mild large hot pepper as well like cubanelle)

1 small winter squash, acorn or butternut peeled and diced

2 celery ribs chopped

4 carrots chopped

1 tsp olive oil (I use evoo) divided

1 good spray of a quality olive oil spray

1 box of chicken or veg broth

1 32 ounce can of diced tomatoes and

1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes

fresh, frozen or dried basil to taste

fresh or dried rosemary to taste, chopped up or ground

1 - 2 Tbsp parsley fresh finely chopped

2 - 3 cloves freshly pressed or minced garli. Do not use dried or preserved garlic.

32 oz and more of water

1/2 frozen green peas or lima beans

1 or two small zucchini quartered and chopped

11/2 frozen spinach or kale (or fresh) or other not too spicy or bitter green. I like kale because it has a slightly lemony sour taste.

1 c. green beans fresh or frozen. 

optional 1 15 ounce can of fava or other firm bean like kidney beans

salt, pepper, optional hot sauce to taste.

optional fresh shaved Parmesan for garnish

Some people like to add a sauteed and chopped pod or two of okra as a thickening veg and interesting texture.

Get all your vegetables chopped up before you start. 

In a soup pot over medium, saute the onions, celery, carrots and pepper in 1/2 tsp. oil and a quick spray of the oil spray until softening

Move the vegetables to one side and add the other half teaspoon of oil to the pan in the cleared area. 

Add about an inch of Broth to the pot.

Put in the chicken to brown and mostly cook through.
Add the winter squash on top of the sauteed veg. 
Remove the chicken and chop it all up into small bite-sized pieces.
Return chopped chicken  to the pan.  

Add tomatoes, water and broth, basil,  rosemary, parsley and bring to a boil, then add the zucchini and remaining fresh and frozen veg and the garlic. (If you want a less pronounced garlic taste add the garlic with the winter squash - but either way you won't have a raw garlic taste)

Wait to add canned beans until the other vegetables are soft.

Simmer for at least an hour or longer at very low heat, slightly covered. Add water or broth as needed

Season to taste 

As you plate the soup you can stir in a teaspoon of finely grated Parmesan

The grated parm will make the soup creamy but also a few calories and salt-- cut back on the salt if you add the cheese into the bowl to make it creamy.  

Serve with shaved or Parmesan strips on top for garnish.

Serve with bread or garlic bread or add some hot, cooked, small pasta in each bowl.

You can also eliminate the chicken.  When I was a vegetarian, I used to add in chopped black oil cured olives toward the end of my saute, to get a smokey, meaty taste. Without meat you can increase the canned beans and use two kinds like fava and kidney or chick peas.

 ☙❧

Seriously, soup is a great dish to experiment on. I think you could easily use some pre cooked chicken or substitute beef (use beef or vegetable broth).  You can also add in some dry wine. If you think you don't like garlic leave it out.  I think when people don't like garlic but like other Mediterranean food then what they have had that put them off was too much raw garlic or garlic powder. Both have too much sulfur taste for me, and I find raw garlic is harder to digest. I prefer spiciness to come from chilli peppers or mustards.