Fava Beans with Bulgur popular and loaded with nutrients

I’m continuing here to make vegan lent friendly dishes since we are still in lent season. Also, it is a fava beans season and the perfect time to cook them. Another popular dish with fava beans is a simple vegan sautéed one with olive oil and garlic and already posted here.

Fava beans are loaded with an incredible amount of nutrients, they are high in fiber and protein.

This is the first time I have made this dish, my sister in law makes it with meat, so I was able to transfer it into vegan and it turned out good.

The name ma’loubeh comes from a different popular Palestinian dish that we make often with vegetables (eggplants or cauliflower) meat, rice, and spices. The word ma’loubeh means upside down. The ingredients are layered in a pot, and once it's cooked the pot is flipped.So you'll have the vegetables on the top of the meat in the middle then the rice will be on the bottom. Click here for that recipe

How to make ma’loubet fava beans

This dish takes about 30-45 minutes total. First start by picking the stems from each side. as you do with any green beans. Then cut into square size, you can wash them after they're cut or before. Some people like to eat the beans inside uncooked, they are also good. Some also make a salad out of them. But here I'm using the skin and the beans altogether, there is also nutrient in the skin itself.

Heat olive oil in a pot add onions and garlic and sauté until golden brown. Then add fava beans with 2 tablespoons of water to help with cooking the fava beans, add salt, allspice, and cumin.  Cover the pot and continue with occasional stirring for 10-15 minutes and until beans have softened and only halfway cooked. No need to have them fully cooked as they need to be cooked with bulgur. It can be tested with a fork.

Meanwhile, wash and rinse bulgur and set aside, no need to soak it since it doesn’t take much to cook. Please note there are different levels or numbers of bulgur so the bulgur used for cooking is thicker than the one used for tabbouleh. Some bags include the number, use 3 or 4 for this dish.

Pour bulgur over fava beans and spread on top, then boiled water, add some more salt, cumin and allspice on top of the water, and don’t stir the bulgur with the fava beans. The idea is to leave the fava beans on the bottom and bulgur on top. Once it starts boiling, cover the pot and turn the heat on low. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat off and let it sit for a few minutes, then flip on a big plate. Serve hot with a side of salad.

Makes 3 servings

Print