Fava Bean Purée

What was I thinking? I wanted a new way to use up the volunteer dandelions growing in the front yard (cultivated not just regular weeds) and remembered a very authentic sounding Saveur Magazine recipe for fava bean puree with sauteed dandelions. I had about a pound of dry fava beans put away away and put them in a pot of water into soak. As the beans soaked I reached in every now and again and peeled the beans whose thick skins had come away from the legume. UGH. It takes a lot of beans to make a pound and a LOT of peeling to make them edible. After nearly two days soaking the beans were mostly peeled. Some were just so stubborn I had to give up on them. Once peeled I cooked the beans until very tender with thyme and garlic and puréed them in the food processor along with a healthy dose of olive oil. The resulting purée was pretty delicious, especially topped with eggs gently fried in olive oil and a tangle of bitter sautéed dandelions but so are a lot of things that don't require a cook with a totally clear schedule or an army of volunteer shuckers. A one time only dish.