You learn something new everyday. Whole favas

Well, as we get back to normal here (if there really IS such a thing here), I am writing about one of , if not my FAVORITE vegetable: fava beans. There are a few things in here about them, and one theme that comes out, over and over, is that they are a lot of work.

Indeed they are. You pod them, peel them and then you cook them. If you're lucky, you get a cup of favas from a pound of the stuff. Add in your labor, and well..

When I learned that you could peel them, freeze them and thaw them to get the peels off of them, my life changed. I no longer suffered from sore finger tips, or burned finger tips from putting them in boiling water to blanch followed by ice water (and pulling them out too fast). Still, that podding. Oi, that podding.

Not that long ago, while eating at i trulli, there were fava beans in a dish. They came to the table UNPEELED. And they were more than edible. They were good. Hmmm. Clearly, Patty Jackson was onto something, I just didn't know what it was.

A couple of weeks ago, at the farmers market, one of my buddies, the irrepressible Franca, passed on a cooking tip for me. She cooks her favas by taking the whole pods, covering them with olive oil and salt, and roasting them for about half an hour. When I told her I didn't know about that technique, the lady chortled. 'OH MY GOD. I'M TEACYING YOU something about cooking." I filed it away, and didn't think about it for a while.

What I DID think about, however, was how, in San Francisco, where I had eaten very tiny fava beans, whole, in the pod, they told me they grilled them. Grilling a full sized pod wouldn't work. It would toughen and burn the stuff. But clearly, the pods can be eaten.

Well, said I to myself. Let's give it a try. What's the worst thing that could happen?

IT WORKS FOLKS . And it's good. So if you've been avoiding favas because they are so labor intensive, here's your answer. Really. Trust me on t his (I would never lie about favas).

Preheat your oven to 375 (this worked better for me than 350). Then, get a big bunch of favas, in the pod, and coat them well with olive oil. Salt them. Then put them on a tray, in one layer, and bake them for 45 minutes (better than 30). You will get roasted color, and soft pods. If you want, you can split open the pods and pull out the beans but you know what? These pods are GOOD, and you can eat the stuff by just putting it in your mouth and running the thing through your teeth. Really, really good.

This method is not going to eliminate the shelling process from my life. There are recipes where I will want the fresher flavor. But... as one who loves these guys so much, freezes bags of them for the winter, and can't ever seem to get enough of them, this is good. This is REALLY good.

I think you should try it. Maybe more than just about anything else I've posted.