Colleen prepared 3 dishes for the South Arm Seniors’ Kitchen. Her goal for this menu is to introduce some new ingredients to the participants.

The first recipe is a Fava Bean Soup. The soup is thickish with the addition of egg. It has some similarity in ingredients like this Chinese Tomato Egg Soup.

Fava Bean is also known as Broad Bean, Bell Bean, Field Bean or Tic Bean. Preparing fava bean involves first removing the beans from their pods, then remove their exterior coating of soft shell before cooking.

So, the kitchen started with everyone seating around the table to prepare the fava beans. This job is great to involve everyone in the family to help out while catching up with one another.

Ingredients

• 4 cups twice peeled fresh fava beans, from about 4 pounds of whole fava pods
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 cups diced white onion, about 1 large onion
• 2 roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon achiote powder (annatto seasoning)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt to taste
• 3 large gold potatoes, peeled and diced, about 3 cups
• 6 cups water or broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 eggs, light beaten
• 1 1/2 cups crumbled queso fresco (we substituted with feta cheese)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro or pasley
• 1 avacodo, peeled and sliced for garnishing
• hot sauce, optional

Source: via Colleen

Serves 6 to 8

The Annatto seasoning gives the soup the reddish colour.

Instructions

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the chopped onion, cook for about 5 minutes or until soft.Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add spices and seasonings like cumin, chili powder, annatto seasoning and salt to taste. Mix well and fry until you can smell the fragrance of the spices.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook another 3 minutes.

Add water or broth and bring to a boil on high heat.

Add diced potatoes and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.Add half (2 cups) of the fava beans. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 25 minutes.

Use a potato masher to soften and crumble the potato chunks, then add the remaining fava beans and cook another 5 minutes.

Whisk milk and eggs together.Stir the milk and egg mixture into the soup. Serve with crumble feta, a slice of avocado and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with hot sauce on the side for those who likes some kicks.