I got a few email inquiries from US readers asking what ful was. After much botanical immersion (basically, googling “ful” and “fava bean”) I struck gold. Ful is fava bean! And there are several varieties. Read all about it.
And, folks, if you have questions about terms, or measurements, or temperatures, please, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments to the blog. That’s what it’s there for. This way, others can benefit from the answer to your query, and I get to know that my writing is being read somewhere on the blog, too. 🙂
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Rest assured, your writing is read. Yesterday’s dinner was actually inspired by it (roasted root veggies, although I served it with a TVP & bok choi stirfry and some honey cake)…
…but I *did* get a little tired of being the only commenter.
TVP! Hurrah! It’s been a long time since I cooked TVP.
Good to hear from you! A bunch of folks emails every week or two, but it’s always nice to see comments on the comment page.
ok – so a couple questions then – just so you know i’m still reading …
1. why do you roast the veggies in a bag, as opposed to just a covered pan?
2. ful – do you mean you boil in the pod, or shell and then boil in the thickish clearish skin (which is what i did)? also – if in the pod, do you remove the other layer after (from the pic, looks like not)?
thanks!
also – glad you had a good seder – the fimo is a cute touch!
I had the hardest time even finding TVP. It seems to be less popular here than in Israel (the Rehovot health food store had it in all manner of shapes and sizes, here I could only find granules.)
Any ideas of mail-order suppliers would be welcome…
Hi Chanie and Shunra!
Chanie, for some reason the bag seems to work really well. It makes the vegetables juicy and doesn’t dry them out. I’m sure this can work with a covered pan, but somehow the balance of having the bag and the little holes for air flow does the trick.
As to the ful: I boil it in the pods. After boiling, you can eat them with the other layer on. If they are very fresh, they can be eaten raw, but in that case you have to remove the inner layer.
Shunra, I usually buy my TVP at health food stores, or here: http://www.101teamim.co.il/indexMore.htm. For Americans, there’s a mail-order catalog that has quite a variety of kinds and flavors:
http://www.healthy-eating.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi
And here’s their TVP page:
http://www.healthy-eating.com/texturedsoy.html
Perfect resource, thanks!
thanks hadar – you just saved me some work next time i have ful/fava beans – i keep shelling them and then boiling them or eating them (though i suppose next time i’ll have to shell after boiling – feels easier somehow.)
It’s somehow funner to do because the shells are softer. And after it’s cooked, of course you don’t have to shell the external shell.
This week we didn’t get veg, because of Passover, so we bought some non-organic ful at the market. Boy, what a difference in taste and texture. Organic is definitely the way to go. Now, if only ALL farmers could be convinced…
i tried cooking the ful in their pods, and they were much easier to shell – so thanks for the tip!