Fresh Fava Beans (Broad Beans, in Pod)

Fresh Fava Beans (Broad Beans, in Pod): Nutrition and Complete Guide

Fresh fava beans — broad beans picked before the seeds have dried — are one of the great seasonal pleasures of the British kitchen garden, available for a relatively brief window from May through July. At their youngest and smallest, the beans can be eaten pod and all (when the pods are no longer than a finger). Slightly larger, they are podded and the individual beans eaten skin-on or blanched briefly and the skins removed — doubly podding reveals the vivid, bright green, buttery-sweet inner bean that is one of the finest of all fresh vegetables. Their flavour is unique — grassy, slightly bitter, intensely savoury — and bears no resemblance to the dried or canned fava bean. The Romans revered them; in Mediterranean cultures they signal the arrival of spring. This entry represents fresh fava beans in the pod, raw, giving figures per 100 g of the whole pod weight (including inedible outer pod).

Nutritional Value and Uses

Fresh fava beans in pod provide 88 kcal and 7.9 g of protein per 100 g whole pod — considerably higher yield once podded. They provide folate, thiamine, B6, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin C. Double-pod young fresh broad beans, blanch briefly, toss with good olive oil, lemon juice, mint, and salt. Add to risotto in the final minutes of cooking. Combine with pecorino and fresh mint for the classic Roman vignarola. Make into a fresh broad bean purée for spreading on toast or bruschetta. Sauté with pancetta or chorizo for a hearty spring dish. Always eat very fresh — broad beans develop a starchier, less sweet flavour within days of picking.