Green Risotto with Fava Beans and Broccoli

There are many things I love about living in the Puget Sound area. One of them is how I can live 15 minutes from work, 15 minutes from downtown Seattle, and 15 minutes from a fully functioning farm. It means we get U-Pick fruits and veggies, great farmers markets, and another thing I had never heard of before moving here – CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture. I’m on my fourth different program – they all work a little differently – and I think this one works well for me. It’s called Growing Washington, and there are a number of reasons why I like it:

1. Drop site close to work!
2. They source from a number of different farms, which means a good variety in produce, but they are all local and organic. This is not a distributor who sources from Mexico.
3. Separate fruit and vegetable boxes. I don’t like most types of fruit, so it’s difficult for me when the box includes both fruit and vegetables.
4. Perfect size and flexibility. There’s a small size and a large size. The small size allows me to pick 8 items from each week’s list. This quantity has been perfect for me – usually I can finish everything, but it is always a little bit challenging.
5. Inclusion of some “other items.” We usually see various types of flour and grains as well as farm-fresh eggs on the list. One week, we also had butter as an option.
6. Heirloom varieties. I’ve particularly liked the lettuces – most of their types look like the fancy stuff you eat in restaurants, not the boring stuff you get at the store. And now heirloom tomatoes are starting.

Two of the items in this week’s box, pictured above, came together to form today’s meal: Green Risotto with Fava Beans and Broccoli (slightly adapted from a recipe on AllRecipes).

I’ve made the recipe with only fava beans a few times, but I never bothered to plate it and take a picture. It’s rich and yummy, and though a bit labor intensive, it’s currently my favorite thing to do with fava beans. This time, I stuck broccoli in to use that up, too. I’m ok with the half an hour of constant stirring, but the thing about this recipe that irks me the most is having to puree half of the beans to make the risotto “green.” Having to pull out and then clean my food processor for such a small amount is annoying! Can someone buy me an immersion blender?

Risotto has been my favorite thing to cook and eat this year so far. It’s a great vegetarian dish that is heavy enough for me not to feel hungry an hour later. I’m looking forward to the fall and the risotto possibilities when winter squash and various mushrooms start being harvested.

There are plenty of recipe sites out there that give full recipes and pictures of the cooking process, but at this point, I don’t think I’m qualified enough to do that. I’m an amateur cook, and my kitchen is a mess. So click on the recipe link if you want to make the risotto. :)

~N