Are Fava beans safe to eat?
“Hi Georgie, I found these great beans, fava beans, which I want to learn how to cook, but when I told my husband what I had bought he said that he wouldn’t eat them because he had heard that fava beans could kill you. Is this true? Do you have any recipes which make them safe to eat?” Thanks for the question. Fava beans (also known as broad beans) aren’t all that common in the U.S., but are a staple in many other parts of the world. One thing is for sure, preparing the fresh beans (which come in pods 5-7″ long that look not unlike gigantic string beans) is a labor-intensive process! Each pods has to be cut open to remove the beans, which can then be simply boiled for 3-5 minutes in salted water. After boiling, the beans have to be removed from their white skins. From 5 pounds of pods, you get about 3 cups of cooked peeled beans. Each cup of the cooked, shelled beans provides 187 calories, 1 g fat, 33 g carbohydrate (9 g fiber), and 13 g protein. They also contain lots of folate (44% o
