Spring Little Gems and Fava Bean Salad
~35 Minutes
~30 Minutes
4-6
Salad
California
Fava beans are one of the things I only make a few times a year, given the time that goes into preparing them. They ask for shelling, blanching, shocking, peeling, and at some point you do have to stop and ask whether one cup of beans is a reasonable outcome for the amount of labor involved. But then you taste them, and the answer is yes, annoyingly, obviously yes.
This salad is built around that small spring window when the market starts feeling alive again: little gems, snap peas, radishes, herbs, and fava beans. The dressing is my compromise between Claire’s love of my homemade ranch, and my own preference for very light, sharp, barely-there vinaigrettes. It has buttermilk, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, and herbs, so it lands in the creamy-herby-ranch-adjacent world, but it is intentionally thin and fresh rather than heavy. The point is not to coat every leaf in a thick dressing. The point is to let the greens still taste like greens, and there's enough dressing left on the side to drizzle over the finished salad.
The smashed radishes are doing more than looking cute. Thinly sliced radishes can be fussy: they stick to each other, cling to the bowl, and refuse to distribute evenly through the salad. Smashing them gives them irregular edges and cracked surfaces that hold onto the dressing, and the quick pre-seasoning with salt and vinegar lets them show up already awake instead of tasting like cold, watery garnish.
Use this recipe as a spring template, not a commandment. French breakfast radishes are my favorite here, but regular red globe radishes work perfectly well. The same goes for the greens and vegetables: little gems, snap peas, favas, herbs, whatever looks best. A simple salad like this is always better when the produce is actually good, so the right move is less “follow the recipe perfectly” and more “pay attention at the market.”
Ingredients
Spring Little Gems & Fava Bean Salad
- 2–3 heads little gem lettuce, hand-torn and washed
- 1 Cup fava beans, shelled (about 150 g)
- 1 Bunch French breakfast radishes, you can substitute with red/table radishes if French breakfasts are unavailable (200 g)
- 2 Cups Snap Peas (200 g) trimmed and sliced in half on a bias
Buttermilk Herb Vinaigrette
1 small clove garlic (4 g)
½ cup buttermilk (120 g)
½ tsp fine salt (2 g)
1 TBS sparkling wine vinegar (15 g)
1 TBS mayonnaise (15 g)
3 TBS sour cream (40 g)
1 TBS delicate extra virgin olive oil (15 g)
2 TBS tarragon leaves (5 g)
¼ cup parsley (10 g)
For Plating
Parsley or other fresh herbs, like mint, chives, dill, a small amount of fennel fronds, etc.
- Extra dressing
Fleur de Sel to taste
Tellicherry Pepper to taste
Recipe
Step 1
Prep the Radishes: Lightly smash the radishes using a meat tenderizer, the bottom of a sturdy glass, or a similar tool. Aim to crack them open into a few pieces, but avoid smashing them into bits. Add to a medium sized bowl with the snap peas and toss with a small splash of sparkling wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Let sit while preparing the rest.
Step 2
Blanch the Fava Beans: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add shelled fava beans and cook for 1–2 minutes until bright green. Transfer immediately to ice water. Once cool, peel off the outer skins and reserve the bright green inner beans.
Step 3
Make the Dressing: Blend garlic, buttermilk, salt, vinegar, mayonnaise, sour cream, and olive oil on high until smooth. Add tarragon and parsley and blend briefly on low speed until herbs are broken up but not fully emulsified. The dressing should stay loose and lightly textured.
Step 4
Assemble & Serve: Toss the little gems lightly with dressing. Arrange on a plate as a base. Scatter fava beans, radishes, carrots, and fresh herbs artfully over the top. Serve with additional dressing on the side to drizzle over the top.
