FOUL MTABAL
Foul mtabal is classified as a Lebanese appetizer, but I’m here to lobby that it’s a prêt-à-cuisiner (ready-to-cook) dish suitable for most circumstances. There are two versions I prepare, depending on when I make it:
Dinner after arriving home from an exhausting day.
Brunch before a beach day.
Lunch on a lazy day in.
A very late night New Years Eve after party.
Taking a step back, what is foul mtabal? It’s boiled, dried fava beans served warm with garlic, lemon, oil and salt.
And what are the two versions? The first is with garlic and the second is without. My uncle once said, a bowl of foul mtabal can handle one garlic clove per fava bean. Practically speaking you can go as heavy as you want with the garlic and still be safe. Based on the above, you can infer which version of foul mtabal I use for each occasion.
Dinner after a long day: Garlic.
Brunch before beach: No garlic.
Lunch on a lazy day in: Garlic.
NYE after party: No garlic
If you’re a ‘screw-it’ type of personally, have garlic every time. Many add cumin (a spice) to foul mtabal, but I don’t like cumin because it dominates the whole dish, so you won’t find it in any of my recipes. And many mash up the foul mtabal into a porridge-like texture, but I like to keep the fava bean intact.
In terms of my diet, I’m not concerned with calories, but I’m always concerned about the nutritional value of the food I eat. Fava beans are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein and are usually served with fresh vegetables, further increasing the healthiness of the dish.
The convenience of foul mtabal is that you can use canned fava beans, meaning it can always be available in your pantry ready for consumption. Canned beans and fresh beans have more or less the same nutritional content, though canned beans may have more sodium in them. I recommend purchasing plain flavored beans, equating to less sodium.
The recipe for foul mtabal goes something like this. Open can. Discard liquid in the can. Boil for 10 minutes. Prepare some accompaniments. Add garlic, lemon, oil and salt. Serve warm with bread.
A small note about accompaniments, they can frame the same meal to either be convenient or extra. A plate of olives can suffice, or you can add anything fresh like spring onions, mint and parsley leaves, artichokes, pickles, turnips, tomatoes, cucumbers and more.
I spent a month in Brooklyn and I stayed at an Airbnb. When unpacking my fist farmer’s market purchases, I noticed a can of foul in the pantry! I laughed and noticed how the prêt-à-cuisiner function of foul made it across the Atlantic. I did have foul mtabal that night with a generous portion of garlic. Come to think of it, I’ve made foul mtabal in Beirut, New York, Dubai, Paris and everywhere I’ve made myself at home.
DETAILS
An easy healthy recipe with a prep time of 5 minutes and a cook time of 10 minutes. This recipe feeds 2 and can be easily scaled up for groups.
INGREDIENTS
1 can plain fava beans (I use the brand Americana)
3 cloves of garlic, mashed
2 lemons, squeezed
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Accompaniments (optional): spring onions, mint and parsley leaves, artichokes, pickles, turnips, tomatoes, cucumbers and more.
Bread for serving
METHOD
Place a small deep pot on the stove.
Open the can of fava beans and discard the water.
Pour the fava beans into the deep pot and cook for 10 minutes while occasionally stirring. Heat is set at medium high.
While the fava beans are cooking, prepare your accompaniments.
Pour the fava beans into a serving bowl.
Add the garlic, lemon, oil and salt and mix.
Serve warm with bread and accompaniments.
Photography, Recipe, Food Styling, Prop Styling by: TALA SOUBRA
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