New Recipe Added: Creamy, Fresh Fava Bean Spread

This is a very, very simple recipe for a tasty, versatile spread of fava beans, walnut or olive oil, garlic, lemon, and and a few fresh or dry herbs, that can be spread on pita, naan, crackers, or crostini, and topped with any tangy cheese.  I've chosen a fresh goat cheese from Port Madison Farm and Dairy on Bainbridge Island, just across Puget Sound from Seattle.

In our quest to either grow our own food or buy organic ingredients with as small a carbon footprint as possible, Lou and I have been hitting farmers' markets every weekend for months.  Tonight, we're hitting the Columbia City Farmers' Market, which is open on Wednesdays between 3 and 7 p.m.  It's out first time there for the year.  The great news is that Port Madison Farms will be there, so I can do a bit of networking.  They have some amazingly tangy and fresh goat cheese, and their goats are cuddled, pampered, and loved.  I hope that I'll be able to add a web address for them when we get home tonight.

You can read a bit about their lovely yogurt and cheese in my latest published recipe, Creamy Fava Bean Spread.

Zanne's Creamy Fava Bean and Goat Yoghurt S[read

Ess bench, sei, a mensch,

Zanne

Farm Tours This Weekend!

This weekend, Lou and I have decided to take our uber-cool 11-year-old daughter, "The Bevinator" (known to the rest of the world as Bev, or Beverlee), on a tour of some of our local farms.  On Saturday, when we were at Opening Weekend of the Broadway Farmers' Market (on Seattle Central ampus at Broadway and Pine), I picked up a copy of the 2011 Puget Sound Farm Guide, put together by Puget Sound Fresh and Cascade Harvest Coalition.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, so we can put the top down on my VW and see the sun shine for a few hours.

I'm not sure yet if we'll head south to check out some of the farms around Enumclaw and Puyallup, or head north to Skagit County, the heart of Washington's farming industry.  Skagit sounds better, actually.  Maybe the tulips will be blooming, and a stop in for lunch in LaConner at LaConner Brewing Company (for Lou) and hitting a few antique shops would make a great mid-day break.

I want to get a few dozen eggs from pastured chickens, milk and cream, a beef chuck roast, and whatever vegetables are in season.  I definitely need carrots, potatoes, and squash, and I'll be on the lookout for some fresh fava beans (broad beans), so I can make crostini and a fava bean spread.  They should be in season now.  I haven't made fava bean spread in about five years, and I've been thinking about it for weeks now!  It's a lot like hummus, but I prefer the fava beans, and they are extremely nutritious.  Great on crostini and a nice, white goat cheese.  Azusa Farm and Gardens in Mount Vernon looks like they have them, but their website is down, so I've sent an e-mail inquiry.  They even have a "U-pick" option.  Bevvie and I will totally get into that.

Bev will want to pick berries, and Lou just wants to pet goats.  No, really.  He and his dad have a goat fetish that I will never understand, so we'll have to find some farm with a goat-petting area for the oldest child in the house (written with love, Lou).

I want to see how things work on a farm.  I haven't been on one for any length of time since I was 20.  I think we all should know where our food comes from.  I know Bev will get as much out of it as I will, and helping her to develop a healthy relationship with food right now, as she's coming up on her teenage years, is the reason that I started this blog, and began getting so picky about ingredients and growing our own food.  As a dancer, I saw so many girls with eating disorders and self-image issues.  I don't want her to go through that.  This may be why she's in tae kwon do instead of ballet...

Anyway, if my mom comes, she will, no doubt, bring home some strange, gamey-smelling sheep or alpaca fur to card, spin, ply, and crochet into something fabulous, but it's still riding in the trunk.  I can't see my uncle joining us for a road trip to buy organic carrots.  Not his thing.  Hell, he'll probably just enjoy having the house to himself.  He's really nice, and very quiet, and I'm a chatterbox all day.  I know I annoy the hell out of him sometimes.

Well, that's our plan so far.  We'll see how the weather forecasts look over the next few days.  Long-term forecasts in Seattle are never accurate.

I hope everyone enjoys your week.  Do something nice for yourself that's kind to the planet.  It's all we have.

-Zanne

Ess, bench, sei a mensch.