Fava Beans

This bean is 6-8" long with a soft, green outer shell. The entire bean can be eaten if harvested when the bean is only 2-3" long. Most favas should be shelled prior to eating. Raw or cooked, the fava has a pungent palatableness. Good source of vitamins A and C and also potassium. Quite sophisticated for a bean per se and considered a culinary luxury by its true fans and chefs, five to seven fava beans are encased in a large green pod that is definitely inedible. Even though the pod is smooth skinned and soft, it is tough and must be peeled away and discarded.