I adore them, but I can eat anything.
I usually cook them very simply in water with herbs and a glug of olive oil. Occasionally I'll add an onion studded with cloves. Salt at the end. I want the beans to be flavored as little as possible so that they don't overwhelm whatever it is I'm making.
J'adore fava beans in particular.
Fava bean salad with prosicutto, radish and mint
Insalata di pomodoro e fave
This version had preserved lemon stirred in. Dressing was lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper.
Cooked Rancho Gordo Marcella beans, a type of cannellini bean.
And I use them in everything from crostini to minestrone as you see here.
It's cranberry bean season in the Bay Area, so lately I've been using them in brunch dishes. Pictured are cranberry beans with chorizo sausage and heirloom tomato.
Cranberry beans with roasted tomato confit
BBQ sparerib and cranberry bean hash
