Spring Vegetable Sautee

Here's a sweet mélange of many of my favorite spring vegetables. Fava beans, plus snow peas and asparagus. How can you beat that? This comes together quickly and can easily be made ahead of time. It's good hot, warm, cool, or cold. 

Ingredients: 

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp butter1/2 cup fava beans, shucked, parboiled, and inner shells removed

1/2 cup snow peas, sliced about 1 inch on the diagonal

1/2 cup asparagus, sliced about 1 inch on the diagonal

3 green onions, white part and a little of the green part, sliced into pieces 1-1/2 inch long

2 Tbs mint, coarsely chopped

1 Tbs lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sesame seeds, black, white, or mixed

Directions: 

Shell the fava beans, then parboil the beans for about 2 minutes. Squeeze the beans out of their inner shell. Heat olive oil and butter in a nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Add the fava beans, snow peas and asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes, just until the color on the asparagus starts to turn darker. Add the green onions and cook another minute. Add the mint, lemon juice, and salt. Taste, and adjust the seasoning to your taste, adding more lemon or salt to suit your palate. Serve, topping each serving with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. 

Serves 2

Stealthy Cooking Tip: Fava beans are such a springtime treat! They're only available for a few short weeks each spring, and then I can usually only find them at well stocked grocery stores or the farmer's market. They come in long pods, similar to peas, and must be first shucked out of their long pods, then parboiled for about 1 or 2 minutes, then shelled out of the inner hard shell. Sounds like a lot of work, but they're so delicious, they're worth it! If you can't find fava beans, edamame makes a good substitute.