Eat Your Greens! aka Fava beans and spinach pesto

I recently signed up for organic produce delivery.  I love it!  It forces me to eat more veggies and also try things I might not have before.  Tonight I discovered some some and creative dishes.

Spinach and sunflower seed pesto.  
I figured since traditional pesto was made with a leaf (basil) and a nut/seed (pinenut) why not try something outside the box?  I had a bag full of baby spinach, courtesy of Full Circle Farm and a jar of sunflower seeds.  Why not make pesto?  The recipe that follows was inspired by Jaime Oliver.

2c spinach

1/4-1/2 c sunflower seeds

1/3 plus EVOO

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 c parmesano reggiano

salt and pepper.

As with traditional pesto, combine in food processor and slowly add EVOO until smooth.  Feel free to play around with amounts as well until it agrees with your palette.
I left mine a little crunchier and spooned it over a tortellini. It was pretty dang yummy!

I was on a roll with the the greens and was dying to try the bag of fava beans in my organic mix so the recipe that follows is a nice little side dish.

Fava Beans tossed with parmesano reggiano
1 C fresh fava beans shelled.

2 tbs. EVOO

1 clove garlic, chopped

pinch or small shake of crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c shaved parmesano reggiano

So, Fava Beans are a thick bean that is encased in a pod and looks like a giant snap pea.  Crack it open from an end and pull it apart.  Inside are the beans.  Do not eat these raw.  The first step is to boil a small pot of slightly salted water.  Once boiling, throw the beans in for about 1-2 minutes.  Drain and rinse.  THEN, you must pop the bright green beans out of their little jacket.  It's a thick skin like little bean scuba gear.  Once this is complete just add olive oil, garlic and red pepper to a medium hot pan.  Toss the beans until heated through.  Dish up.  Add your salt and pepper and shave some cheese on and your done!  Another option would be to forgo the heat and just mix the ingredients together (minus the garlic) and toss into a green salad.