Turfanda - First of the Season - Broad beans

Turfanda - The enjoyment of eating something that is just in season.  An activity I'm keen to embrace this year. I made my last batch of marmalade today, so I'm ready to say goodbye to the winter season and hello to spring's greenery.  Fresh broad beans are just appearing on the bushes in this part of the Aegean and I cooked our first batch this week.  I missed these so much while we lived in England as hardly anyone eats the pods; waiting until the beans are big enough to harvest and throwing the pods away.  Such a waste, as the young pods taste much better than the beans.  One of the benefits of moving back to Turkey has been going back to using just a couple of vegetables as a base for an evening meal. When veg is this good,  meat is superfluous.

My recipe for bakla, broad beans isn't a completely traditional one, but I'll eat them this way all spring. 

500g  fresh broad bean pods, topped and tailed

2 onions - chopped

1 leek- chopped

1 tbls chopped celeriac

1 tblsp olive oil.

vegetable stock 

salt and pepper

chopped dill

yogurt to serve.

Sauté the onions, leek and celeriac in the olive oil for a few minutes, then add the beans and sauté until the pods turn a bright green. Add enough  stock to almost cover the beans and put a tight lid on the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.  Turks like their beans very soft, I prefer them to retain a little bite. Add salt and pepper and allow to cool a little for the flavour to develop.  Sprinkled with dill and traditionally served with yogurt, I prefer mine with rice.