Happy Hump Day! It’s time to bust open the box of produce from your local CSA (you totally have one, right?) or what we used to call “the garden” and whip up something delicious and nutritious. And of course, gluten-free. Again, the awesomeness about produce is that it’s naturally gluten-free, you just have to make sure you don’t add anything in that contains gluten. And you’re not going to do that, are you? No, silly, of course not.

In the spirit of choosing the weirdest things in the CSA box, I decided to tackle the obscenely large fava beans that arrived all fresh and intimidating. Look at this —

Objects in photograph even larger than they appear.

What the heck, fava beans? Since I wasn’t totally sure how to go with this, I followed the recipe provided by my CSA, Good Life Organics, and went to town making some fava bean hummus. Which was terrific, you guys! Totally garlic-y, for those of you with issues, but if you don’t mind stinking up the place, this is your recipe.

First, you have to shell these big boys, which can offer you a lovely moment of contemplation, as shelling beans is not a quick endeavor especially when faced with these oversized pods of manliness. And of course as my mind wandered, I couldn’t help but be reminded of growing up on a farm and serial killers.

The only adaptation you have to make to enjoy this gluten-free is (obviously) enjoying it with crudite or gluten-free crackers, so don’t even sweat it. Instead, blend up this fava bean hummus right now. Do it.

Fava Bean Hummus

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

adapted from Good Life Organics

Ingredients

1 lb of Fava Beans
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup tahini
3 cloves of fresh garlic
juice of 1 lemon
sea salt to taste

1. Put salted water on to boil. Pop the beans out of their pods, and and discard pods. Drop beans into boiling salted water and let them cook for about 15 minutes.

2. Drain, and allow to cool. After they have cooled, pop the beans out of the skin. You may need a knife to slit the skin if they don’t pop out easily.

3. Put garlic into your food processor, followed by fava and garbanzo beans, lemon juice, tahini, and salt. Pulse on high until pureed.

4. Remove from blender and serve!

Makes: 10 servings