Queen Style Avocadoes with egg mix filling, nestled in Fava Bean Salad made in Susan's Kitchen

(Note from Martha:  I am so far behind in posting the photos from both September and October and I'm hoping to get a caught up today, so prepare for an avalanche of wonderful recipes!)

Ingredients for stuffed avocadoes: ½ avocado per person, peeled and pit removed; hard boiled eggs (about 2 eggs for 3 avocado halves; 4 eggs/6 avocado halves and so on); 1 T. extra virgin olive oil/2 eggs; salt to taste; 1/3 tsp. hot sauce/2 eggs (Cholula or Frank’s Red Hot sauces work best;)

Preparation: in a bowl mash up the hard boiled eggs with the olive oil to a smooth paste; mix the eggs paste with the hot sauce and salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to stuff the avocadoes.

Ingredients for Fava Bean Salad: 2 cups of peeled and cooked favas (skin removed) or 1, 280z package of frozen favas (La Fe are the best and can be found in the frozen veggies section of most Asian/international markets or at El Chaparral, across from Whole Foods in Wilson Blvd.) If you can’t find favas, you can substitute with finely chopped Romaine lettuce for the “nest” sprinkling the romaine with a little salt, vinegar and oil so the lettuce is not bland; 1 t. salt; 2 T. red wine vinegar; 3 T. grapeseed or canola oil; 1 shallot, peeled, halved and finely chopped; ½ t. salt; the juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon; 1 T. grapeseed or canola oil; 1 T. finely chopped cilantro.

Preparation: Cook the fava beans until tender, making sure that they don’t turn to mush; if using frozen favas, add to salted boiling water without thawing. Once they cool enough to handle peel and place in a deep bowl. The fava beans should be still warm enough that they can absorb the vinegar. Add the vinegar and salt first and stir well, then add the oil. In a separate bowl, mix the chopped shallot with salt and lemon juice and let steep for at least 10 minutes (a little longer is always better, 20 minutes ideally, but 10 minutes works in a pinch;) then add the oil and the cilantro, stir well and add to the dressed favas. Mix well and make a small nest on a dish, where the stuffed avocado will be placed in the center of the plate.

Cut and peel the avocadoes with a soup spoon, remove pit and stuff each half with the egg mix. Serve atop the fava bean salad nest or chopped romaine in lieu of favas.

Another salad that works well to plate the avocadoes is fresh green cabbage salad. I usually buy the shredded cabbage packages and salt it first, then following the recipe for the fava beans dressing. I also add a 1/3 t. ground cumin so it’s not so heavy to digest.