Broad bean, bell pepper and quinoa salad with basil tahini dressing

Broad bean, bell pepper and quinoa salad with basil tahini dressing
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Last week I bought some broad beans, also called fava or faba beans, from our local organic farm. Their botanical name is Vicia faba L.

These sweet, creamy and delicious pod beans only have a short natural season during the summer, so are usually dried, canned or frozen to preserve them. It is therefore a real treat to eat them fresh.

Dried broad or fava bean is an ancient staple of many middle eastern and north African cuisines.

In Egypt, ful madames (literally 'buried beans') is the national dish, and ta'amia, a falafel considered to be superior in every way to the chickpea concoctions favoured further north, is also popular. 

Ground into a flour known as shiro, broad beans also play a central role in the Ethiopian culinary tradition.

Interestingly, in Ancient Egypt broad beans were cultivated but considered unclean and fed to slaves. Herodotus even claimed that Egyptian priests would not even look at beans, let alone eat them.

The Ancient Egyptians weren't the only ones with a thing about broad beans. 

Pythagoras, the Ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher, actually banned his followers from eating them. There are many theories about the reason for this, which I shall return to later.

In Europe broad or fava beans are more frequently eaten green and immature, particularly in Italy where they are harvested when the size of garden peas.  

Broad beans should be double-podded, unless they are very young and tender. 

Step 1

Remove the beans from their pods.

Step 2

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add the beans. Cook for approximately 2 minutes and then drain.

Step 3

Place the beans into a bowl of cold water.

Step 4

Pop the tender, bright green beans out of their thick, leathery skins by using your nail to slit the skin and squeezing gently.

Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

Salad

• 170g double de-podded broad beans (approximately 20 bean pods)
• 110 g (4oz, 1/2 cup) quinoa
• 3/4 cup boiling water from kettle
• 1/2 red bell pepper (washed and chopped into small pieces)
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper (washed and chopped into small pieces)
• 15g (1/2 oz) pine nuts

Dressing

• 85g (3 oz) fresh basil (washed and chopped)
• 2 teaspoons light tahini (sesame seed paste, available in supermarkets and health food stores)
• 1 teaspoon sweet white miso (available in some supermarkets and health food stores)
• 2 teaspoons apple juice concentrate
• 1 dessert spoon fresh lime juice

Method

1. Double de-pod the broad beans as described in steps 1 to 4 above
2. Add hot water to quinoa in a small pan, cover with lid, bring to boil, turn heat down low and simmer with lid on for 15 minutes. Do not remove the lid during cooking.  It is easy to tell when it is done because the seeds display a little white thread that curls around them. Please click here for more information about quinoa.
3. Put all ingredients for the dressing in a jug and blend until smooth
4. Mix cooked quinoa, beans, peppers and pine nuts together with the dressing
5. Serve garnished with fresh basil. Can be eaten as a main meal or in smaller portions as a side dish.

Nutrition and health benefits

Nutrition

Broad beans are very high in protein, starch and fibre and contain many beneficial vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients with anti-oxidant, anti-hypertensive, hypolipidemic and anti-cancer properties.

Broad beans are a very rich source of dietary fibre, which acts as a bulk laxative that helps to protect the mucous membrane of the colon by decreasing its exposure time to toxic substances as well as by binding to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon. Dietary fibre has also been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels by decreasing re-absorption of cholesterol binding bile acids in the colon.

Broad beans are rich in phyto-nutrients such as isoflavones and plant-sterols. 

Isoflavones such as genistein and daidzein have been found to protect against breast cancer in laboratory animals. These phytoestrogens appear to have a different mechanism of action from endogenous oestrogen which may explain their protective effects.

Phytosterols, especially ß-sitosterol, are reported to lower cholesterol levels in the body. There is, however, controversy about this and the evidence base is currently not strong enough to support claims that phytosterols protect against cardiovascular disease.

Broad beans contain Levo-dopa or L-dopa, a precursor of neuro-chemicals in the brain such as dopamine, epinephrine and nor-epinephrine. Dopamine in the brain is associated with smooth functioning of body movements. 

L-dopa is used to treat Parkinson's disease and there has been some research interest in whether eating broad beans improves motor performance.

Fresh fava beans are an excellent source of folates. 100 g beans provide 423 µg or 106% of folates. Folate along with vitamin B-12 is one of the essential components of DNA synthesis and cell division. Adequate folate in the diet around conception and during pregnancy may help prevent neural-tube defects in the newborn baby.

They also contain good amounts of vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine), thiamin (vitamin B-1), riboflavin and niacin. These vitamins function as co-enzymes in cellular metabolism of carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

In addition, broad beans are a good source of minerals like iron, copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium and contain high levels of potassium. 

Potassium is an important electrolyte of cell and body fluids. It helps counter pressing effects of sodium on heart and blood pressure.

It isn't all good news...

As I mentioned at the beginning, the ancient philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras, banned members of his brotherhood from consuming broad or fava beans. 

Fierce debate raged for centuries about the reason for this.

Aristotle said that Pythagoras condemned fava beans "either because they have the shape of testicles, or because they resemble the gates of hell, for they alone have no hinges, or again because they spoil, or because they resemble the nature of the universe, or because of oligarchy, for they are used for drawing lots."

Diogenes proposed that the Pythagoreans rejected favas because they cause thought-disturbing flatulence, saying, "One should abstain from fava beans, since they are full of wind and take part in the soul, and if one abstains from them one's stomach will be less noisy and one's dreams will be less oppressive and calmer."

A later sect known as the Orphics believed that Pythagoras had forbidden the eating of broad beans because they contain the souls of the dead. "Eating fava beans and gnawing on the heads of one's parents are one and the same," went one of their sayings.

Pythagoras by Bruce Pennington

Modern medicine has a more prosaic explanation.

Raw broad beans also contain the alkaloids vicine and convicine which can induce haemolytic anaemia in patients with the hereditary condition glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. The toxic substances are concentrated in the skin of the bean. This potentially fatal condition is called favism after the fava bean.

Favism has been known for many centuries along the Mediterannean littoral but was first reported in the American medical literature in 1933 and in the UK in the 1950's. More detailed understanding of the physiology of the disease has only emerged in the last 25 years.

The condition is especially prevalent in the Middle East and in old Magna Graecia - the region ruled by the ancient Greeks, which now forms the coastal areas of southern Italy - where as many as 30 per cent of the population in some areas has it.

For most people, consumption of broad or fava beans provides many benefits provided they are prepared properly.

Soaking dried beans overnight followed by cooking, substantially reduces the concentration of antinutrients, such as vicine and convicine.

Sprouting beans is also an effective means of reducing vicine content.

Removal of the skin by double de-podding will also reduce the risk as the potentially toxic substances are concentrated in the skin.

Breeding varieties of Vicia faba that do not contain vicine and convicine is a priority and marker-assisted selection techniques are being investigated.

If you are from a region with a high prevalence of favism or you know that members of your family have suffered from it, you must be very cautious.

Whether poisonings were the basis of Pythagoras' pronouncement or not, no one can say for certain.

Iamblichus tells of the time a group of Pythagoreans were being pursued by their enemies when they came across a field of favas in bloom. Rather than disobey the master's dictates and flee through the field, they were slaughtered. And when two who were captured were questioned about their beliefs, they refused to answer. The husband chose death and the wife, a Spartan, bit off her tongue and spit it at her captors to avoid spilling the beans.

Broad beans are rich in tyramine, and thus should be avoided by those taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

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Herby lemon chickpea falafels

Falafel is a traditional Arab food, usually served in pitta bread with fresh salad, pickled vegetables and tahini-based sauces.  They can be eaten on their own as a snack or served as part of a meze, which is a mixture of different starters.  They are usually deep-fried but I prefer to brush them with olive oil and bake them in the oven.

Traditionally, falafel are made with chickpeas or fava beans.

According to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food by Gil Marks,

“The first known appearance of legume fritters (aka falafel) in the Middle East appears to be in Egypt, where they were made from dried white fava beans (ful nabed) and called tamiya/ta-amia (from the Arabic for ‘nourishment’); these fritters were a light green colour inside. Many attribute tamiya to the Copts of Egypt, who practiced one of the earliest forms of Christianity. They believed that the original state of humankind was vegetarian and, therefore, mandated numerous days of eating only vegan food, including tamiya.”

Traditionally, spices and herbs such as ground cumin, ground coriander and parsley are used in falafel but you can add all sorts of different vegetables, herbs and spices to change the flavour.  Here are some ideas:

• Roasted red pepper and fresh basil
• Fennel seeds, carrot and orange zest
• Butternut squash and sumac
• Lemon and fresh coriander

You just need to take care to achieve the right balance between the quantity of chickpeas and the quantity of fresh herbs and vegetables, otherwise the mixture will go mushy and you will not be able to form it into balls.  If your mixture is too mushy you can try reducing the quantity of vegetables used, increasing the quantity of chickpeas and/or adding some chickpea (gram) flour to help to bind it.

Please let me know how you get on if you try this recipe as I am always striving to improve how I explain things.  I'd also like to know what you think of the recipe format, so please leave your comments below.

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients	Method
1 small white onion, finely chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pinch sea salt	Saute chopped onion in olive oil with a small pinch of salt (the salt draws water out of the onion and lowers the temperature, so prevents burning) on a low flame until soft and translucent.  If the oil sizzles the temperature is too high.
1 small carrot, grated	Add the carrot to the onion and sauté gently
1 can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 small handful fresh green herbs, e,g, one or more of parsley, thyme, lemon balm, marjoram, coriander Zest of ½ lemon 1 dessertspoon sweet white miso (shiro miso).  You can just use salt and pepper if you have no miso though you will miss out on all the amazing nutrients in this fermented soy paste. Fresh parsley or coriander to garnish	Put chickpeas, herbs, lemon zest and miso into a blender jug and add the sauted onion and carrot. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as appropriate Shape into small balls about the size of a ping-pong ball, slightly flatten, place on a parchment-lined baking tray and brush with a little olive oil. Bake in a medium oven (180˚C, 350˚F, gas mark 4) for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown. Garnish with parsley or coriander and serve as a sandwich in pitta bread with salad, on their own as a snack or as one of a selection of starters (meze).

Amchoor Chana

My local health food shop, Earthfare in Glastonbury, has a cornucopia of herbs and spices.  Last time I was there I bought a small packet of mango powder, which is also called amchoor.

Mango powder or amchoor is made from raw green mangoes that are cut, sun-dried, and ground into a pale beige powder.  Mango powder is used much like lemon, but it gives food a tangy, sour taste without adding moisture.  Its tart flavour is used as a souring agent in soups, dals, vegetable dishes and chutneys, especially in northern India.

I had never cooked with mango powder before so I decided to experiment.  As it has a sour flavour, I wanted to balance it with something sweet.

Winter squash is currently in season and has a beautifully sweet taste when cooked slowly, so I decided to combine this with onions, tomatoes, chickpeas and some spices to create a subtle sweet and sour dish.  It was delicious.  So here is my recipe for Amchoor Chana - Chickpeas with Mango Powder.

Amchoor Chana
(serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
• 2-4 cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ winter squash (cut into cubes)
• 1 can chickpeas (drained) or 2 cups freshly cooked chickpeas
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 dessert spoon white (shiro) miso (dissolved in a little water)

Method

1. Add olive oil, salt and onions to a cooking pot and sauté gently until the onions are soft and translucent.
2. Add the spices and stir for 1 minute
3. Add the winter squash, chickpeas and tomatoes, cover the pot and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  You may need to add some extra water.
4. Add the white miso.  Taste to check whether the seasoning is to your liking and adjust if necessary.
5. Serve hot with brown rice cooked in turmeric and garnish with fresh coriander.

If you like your dishes with hotter spices, you can also add a whole mild fresh chilli (finely chopped) or half of a bird’s eye chilli (seeds removed and finely chopped).

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Winter squash and ginger soup

Winter squash is a superb 'comfort food' for this time of year.

In Chinese medicine it is considered a warming food that is medicinal to the spleen-pancreas and stomach.

Winter squash is exceptionally high in complex carbohydrates and is considered beneficial for those with digestive problems.

It is a good source of vitamins A, C, and E and the minerals potassium, iron and magnesium.

Winter squash is also a rich source of carotenoids, including lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin, which are powerful antioxidants known to protect the body from cancer and other conditions such as macular degeneration.

Here is a recipe for winter squash and ginger soup, which is relaxing, warming and comforting, as well as providing your body with powerful protective nutrients.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 large onion (diced)
• 1 small squash, e.g., onion squash or harlequin squash (cut in cubes)
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small pinch sea salt
• Root ginger (2cm piece finely chopped)
• 1 dessert spoon white (shiro) miso (diluted in a little water)

Method

• Heat a cooking pot, add 1-2 tbsp oil, the onion and a small pinch of sea salt and sauté the onions gently on a very low heat until they are soft and translucent
• Add the squash cubes, ginger and water to cover half of the vegetables’ volume.  Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 20 minutes or until the squash is soft.
• Blend to a smooth texture.  Adjust to the desired consistency by adding more water if necessary.  Season to taste with white (shiro) miso.
• Serve hot and garnish with fresh parsley.

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Creamy courgette and leek soup

Fruit and vegetables are abundant in the UK at this time of year. A friend brought me a huge bag of homegrown vegetables and I have been having great fun turning them into delicious healthy dishes. Here is a recipe for a scrummy soup with courgettes and leeks.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 leeks (sliced in half lengthwise, washed and cut in small pieces)
• 2 courgettes (sliced)
• 1-2 strips wakame sea vegetables (soaked for 5 minutes and cut into pieces)
• A small pinch of fine sea salt
• 1 dessertspoon of white (shiro) miso
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• 1 tsp dried basil or 1-2 tbsp fresh basil (chopped)
• 2 cups water
• Fresh basil to garnish

Method

• Heat a saucepan, add some oil, the leeks and a pinch of sea salt and saute the leeks for 5-6 minutes
• Add the rinsed wakame, courgettes and 2 cups of water. If using dried basl, add now. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until soft. If using fresh basil, add now, and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
• Blend to a smooth consistency, adjusting the liquid if necessary. Dilute 2 tsp of white miso in a little water and add to the soup. Taste. If necessary, add some more white miso.
• Serve garnished with some fresh basil.

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Recipe for carrot and onion dip

One of my children claims to hate onions and isn't wild about carrots but he loves this recipe, which he frequently requests for supper.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 2 medium carrots (chopped)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 100-200 ml water
• 1 tsp shiro (white) miso
• 1-2 tbsp ground almonds

Method

• Heat the oil in a cooking pot, add a small pinch of salt, the onions and carrots and saute gently until the onions are soft and translucent
• Add the water to the pan, cover and simmer gently until the vegetables are soft. You may need to add more water to prevent the vegetables from drying out, but don't add too much otherwise the sauce will become too runny. If there is excess liquid in the bottom of the pan after the vegetables have cooked, drain it into a jug and reserve it for later.
• Add 1 tsp white miso and 1-2 tbsp ground almonds to the vegetables and puree using a hand blender. Taste and add another tsp of white miso if necessary. If the mixture is too runny, add a little more ground almonds. If the mixture is too thick, add some of the reserved vegetable cooking water from earlier.
• The resulting sauce should have a similar consistency to a dip such as hummus or guacamole

Enjoy!

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