The broader the beans the better, in Seasonal Foods: Broad Beans (Guardian, May 13), Rick Peters suggests they're 'the legume with the most soul'…
Here in the States, we call them Fava rather than Broad.
We learn from Rick's piece that in Egypt they are found in a dish called Ful Medames and Wikipedia in its description as "cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice, often served for breakfast" notes that it is also popular in Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
A Life (Time) of Cooking shared a Broad and Butter Bean Mash recipe (October 2007) and suggests that they should be blanched and peeled before they're turned into a dish.
Non-vegetarians might enjoy the Tagine of Lamb and Fava Beans and other Moroccan Recipes by Christine Benlafquih for About.com.
In Seasonal Spanish Food, Jose Pizarro has a Fava Bean and Artichoke Saute (page 18) and tells us it pairs well with fish.
NPR in 2007 called them A Little Spring on Your Plate and wondered why it had taken until then for most Americans to discover their slightly nutty flavor.
If you want to do your bit to reduce your carbon footprint, Melissa gave her vote to to Fava Beans For Meatless Monday (Foodista Blog, May 10) with 3 Recipes to prove her point.
After a long deliberation, I chose the Nettle Pasta with Fava Beans photo above from No Recipes (May 2008) as my illustration.
Get cooking!