English mums - tell me about broad beans!

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

We have been living in the UK for almost eight years and I don't get them. I even grew them in my allotment - twice! But I don't understand. I cannot cook them in any way that makes them yummy. They always come out either tough or starchy and unpleasant tasting. And we keep getting them in our veg box.

Help.

[Helen_A]

As young as possible is good (raw straight from the pod, heaven!). For older/bigger ones a quick blanch once podded and then slip off the skins will deal with any 'tough' but they also benefit from a longish cook in stews, or from being cut up to begin with and then stir fried. You can also make bean dip in various forms (spanish and morrocan cook books usually have a good selection of dip type recipes for broadbeans) and they are also a trad. ingredient in Falafel. Umm.... stewed and jarred or frozen in a tomato sauce for later in the year... hefty blanch and then freeze them is good too for winter stews and similar.

[flapjack]

Don't bother cooking them properly. Blanch them quickly, stick them in a blender with some mint, garlic and tahini and eat them as hummus. Broad bean falafel works too, as Helen mentioned.
Personally, though, my preferred option is to refuse them in a veg box.

[AutumnAir]

I don't like 'em either and don't know why anyone would eat them, but DH loves them... DD, who usually yums up anything like a pea or bean, won't go near them.

I also vote for whizzing them up and mixing them with nice herbs/spices to make them palatable, or just avoiding where at all possible

[chick]

we got them this week. i will be giving them to my parents!

i don't DISLIKE them but I would eat them with a roast dinner and not doing one this week!

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

All this time I thought I was doing something wrong and we were missing out on some great secret of the British summer!

Last night I blanched some, then pulled the outer skins off, then put them back in the pan with lots of butter and garlic. Definitely better without their outer skins. But that's a lot of work for something that's not amazing to eat.

Are broad beans the very same as fava beans? What about lima beans? Same? Different?

[spudmum]

...oh & you can tell how tough they are likely to be, before you cook, them by looking at the 'scar' on the individual beans. Green or white means it was picked young and will be lovely as a side veg simply boiled/steamed. Brown or black means they were picked later on and the outer jackets are rather leathery and will need removing after cooking and some prefer just to use these skinned beans for soups etc,

[nathansmum]

Ew! I remember trying to swallow the darn things down with water when I was a kid coz they were so gross then....they're still gross to me now! I get them in my organic vege box sometimes and end up composting them. My parents still love and eat them.