Foodist Approved: Pesto New Potato Salad with Fava Beans

by | Jul 9, 2014
Pesto Potato Salad with Fava Beans

Pesto Potato Salad with Fava Beans

Our amazing recipe developer Elyse Kopecky is back from maternity leave with her delicious Foodist Approved recipes. Please join me in welcoming her back and congratulating her on her new baby girl!   -Darya

I’m back in the kitchen and now with a baby on board! On June 19th I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. It’s been a life-changing experience that’s even altered my approach to cooking.

With a whole new appreciation of busy, I can finally understand why many parents revert to frozen foods and takeout. To avoid falling into an unhealthy rut, I now double or triple recipes so that I will have leftovers when I’m in a time crunch. It’s especially helpful to make big batches of things like salad dressing, pesto and sauces, which can be used to quickly turn the mundane into deliciousness.

This week’s recipe was inspired by my latest weekly delivery from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which included freshly dug baby new potatoes, giant fava beans and a hearty bunch of floral basil.

This is the first year I’ve been a member of a farm share and it’s been the best thing ever for insuring I don’t get in a rut of buying always the same produce. Even though I went to culinary school, I still have vegetables show up in my share that I’ve never cooked before.

If you haven’t tried my pesto recipe from a couple months ago now’s your chance to make a big batch of it. It’s great slathered on just about anything.

Foodist Approved: Pesto New Potato Salad with Fava Beans

Yield: 10 – 12 servings


Ingredients
  • 4 pounds small red new potatoes, halved
  • 3 cups fresh fava beans, shelled and blanched (shell and cook in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, plunge in cold water, then remove waxy skin from each bean)
  • 1 cup homemade pesto
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt and pepper
Preparation

Place the potatoes in a large pot of generously salted water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender but not mushy.

Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl with the fava beans. Allow potatoes to cool briefly before tossing with the pesto. If the pesto is too thick, thin with some additional olive oil.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

This potato salad is great served warmed or chilled. Leftovers can be frozen and reheated.

Elyse Kopecky is a social media and digital technology consultant based in Portland, OR. After 10 years working for NIKE and EA SPORTS in Portland, Amsterdam and Geneva she briefly left her desk job for the chance to study culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC. Follow her adventures in the kitchen and on the trail at freshabits.com and @freshabits.

 

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2 Responses to “Foodist Approved: Pesto New Potato Salad with Fava Beans”

  1. Paul Swanson says:

    What a fantastic recipe! Especially when your dinner guests are put to work peeling
    the fava beans!

  2. Paul Swanson says:

    What a fantastic recipe! Especially when your dinner guests are put to work peeling the fava beans!

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