Broad Bean and Pea Dip

This creamy hummus-like spread is an easy way to sneak some more fiber-rich vegetables into your snacks and meals. With broad beans or fava beans, frozen peas and kale, walnuts, nutritional yeast, and tahini, it has an inviting spring green shade that adds life to all sorts of dishes and snacks. Whether you use it as a dip, a sandwich spread, or thin it out to make a pesto sauce, you’ll find it keeps incredibly well in the fridge for a few days.

Whole Food Plant-Based, Vegan, Oil Free, Refined Sugar Free, Gluten Free.

If you follow my stories on Instagram, you already know that it’s broad bean season in Malta right now and that my parents grow them in their garden.

We always make sure to freeze peeled broad beans at this time of year. Also known as fava beans, you can find them frozen year-round in most supermarkets, but it’s always nice to take advantage of a fresh harvest! There’s just something magical about eating homegrown food.

In April and May, this dip replaces my tried-and-true Avocado Dip as my spread of choice for toasts and snacks. You can also thin it out with some pasta water and use it to make Broad Bean and Pea Pesto Pasta.

This is something that even veggie haters usually eat without too much begging involved. In fact, broad beans are the only plant-based food my dad eats, except for potatoes and those occasional times I manage to sneak something into a dish without his knowledge - like my chickpea brownies, but that’s just between me and you! In fact, I should add that recipe to my site soon because if I can get away with it with him, you can probably get it past the fussiest eaters in your household, too!

Anyway, my dad likes his broad beans raw with fresh Maltese bread and butter. And even though he’s never been one to eat huge portions, you’d be amazed by how many broad beans he can scarf down in one sitting! And while they’re great raw, I just love how they combine with the flavors in this dip.

Another great thing about this dip is that you can get a lot of mileage out of it. It keeps in the fridge for a good three or four days, so I like to keep some on hand for when the munchies hit. I love dipping celery sticks into it or slathering it onto some freshly toasted bread and topping with sliced tomatoes and walnuts or sesame seeds. Yum!

Ingredients:

Serves 3

-1 cup (90 g) broad beans, frozen or fresh, skins removed

-1/2 cup (50 g) frozen peas

-1/4 cup (10 g) frozen kale

-1/4 cup (20 g) halved walnuts

-1 clove of garlic

-juice of 1 lemon

-50 ml vegetable stock

-2 tablespoons (6 g) nutritional yeast

-1 tablespoon (15 g) tahini

Seasonings:

-1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

-pinch of black pepper

-1 teaspoon ground flaxseed

-1 teaspoon dried basil

-1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

Optional for garnish:

-red chili flakes

-smoked paprika

-chopped walnuts

Method:

1.       In a saucepan, bring about 1 liter / 4.5 cups of water to a boil, then add the frozen beans, peas and kale.

2.       Cook on medium to high heat for about 6 minutes, then drain the water.

3.       Add the cooked beans, peas and kale to the food processor, along with the rest of the ingredients, including the seasonings.

4.       Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds, pausing to scrape the sides from time to time as needed. Blend until smooth. If you want a runnier texture, you may add more vegetable stock or water, one tablespoon at a time.

5.       Serve on toasted bread, as a spread in a sandwich, as pesto (like in my Broad Bean and Pea Pesto Pasta), or as a dip with your favorite crackers or crunchy raw veggies.

Note: This dip stores well in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Nutritional Facts per serving:

Calories: 153

Carbs: 8.7 g

Protein: 7.4 g

Fats: 9.4 g

Fiber:  4.3 g