SPRING VEGETABLE
RISOTTO
As partners in crime, asparagus and risotto give Pinky
and The Brain a run for their money in terms of sheer
awesomeness. And while we’re at it—oh, what the heck—
let’s grab a few more of my favorite spring vegetables as
well.
Let’s start with fava beans. The bane of every prep
cook’s existence, these mild-flavored, bright green beans
need to be shucked not once, but twice. After popping
them out of their big pods (that’s the easy part), they then
have to have their individual skins removed. It’s not fun.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to do it: blanch them
first. After a brief boil in water, they not only slip out of
their skins with an easy squeeze, but they actually achieve
a brighter green color than they would if you blanched
them postpeeling. That’s a win-win. When shopping for
favas, look for whole pods that are firm and snap if you
start to bend them. Older fava pods will be spongy and
bendy, and they contain older beans, which is not what
you want.
Asparagus comes in a few different colors and sizes.
You won’t actually find much difference in flavor between
the fat purple and the green varieties, but I like to mix
them anyway because it makes the dish look prettier.
White asparagus, on the other hand, does have a different
flavor, both delicate and slightly bitter, with a deeper