fava in honour of Rio's win to host the Olympics in 2016

Lunch today consisted of yellow split peas as a spread topped off with an olive and sun-dried tomatoes (fava, as we say back home). The title of this post is a shout-out to the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro and its even more beautiful people for having just been awarded the Olympic Games for 2016. Many of us recall (1997) the joy and celebration when it was announced that Athens would host the 2004 Games. How the years go by, eh?

There's really no connection between this fava recipe and Rio other than that I made it on this happy day. Congratulations again to Rio and see you in 2016. I'm totally going.

fava

2 cups of yellow split peas, rinsed under cold running water

8 cups of cold water

1/2 white onion, unchopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup of olive oil

juice of 1 small lime

1 tbsp of white wine (not necessary)

1 tbsp of balsamico (most Greeks like to use standard red-wine vinegar I think)

olives and sun-dried tomatoes for topping

salt and pepper

In a medium size pot, add water, peas, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and olive oil. Bring to a boil, removing with a tablespoon the white foam that forms. After 1 minute of boiling, reduce to a STRONG simmer for 1 hour. Add salt, stir, and cover and reduce heat to a GENTLE simmer for another 20 minutes. You are looking for the peas to get soft to the point where you're getting the texture of a dip. Remove from heat, add some fine pepper, white wine (the housemates had some left over which I stole), balsamico, and lime juice. Give it a good stir. Remove bay leaf. Individual portions can be served with an olive and 1 chopped sun dried tomato. You can dress it with a red onion that's sliced....or sprinkle some oregano if you wish. Some recipes for this call for one to remove the onion, but for me it just softens to the point where it melts away practically.

Healthy option, loaded with protein, and I got a bag of yellow split peas from Waitrose for 49p. What a deal. Fava is synonymous with one of my favourite places in the world, Sandorini.