Marinated pork chops with 'bash and smash' broad beans

Why not have a smashing time - when you are preparing and cooking this lovely dish. You can 'bash and smash', or if you prefer just 'crush' the broad beans, just before serving with the lovely tasting pork chops.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

11g carbs per serving
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
1 garlic clove, crushed
juice of ½ lemon, plus wedges to serve
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pork chops
1kg broad beans (about 300g podded weight)
a handful of mint leaves

Method:

1. Mix the rosemary, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread over the pork and leave to marinate while you pod the broad beans.
2. Get a griddle pan/grill smoking hot, shake any excess marinade off the pork chops and griddle/grill for 3-5 minutes on each side, brushing with any extra marinade as you go. Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil.
3. Rest the pork chops while you cook the beans for 3 minutes in simmering water. Drain and crush with a potato masher. Stir in a handful of roughly torn mint; season. Serve the smashed beans with the pork chops, a lemon wedge and an extra drizzle of oil.

Recipe idea from James Ramsden.

Some Broad Bean Facts:
A member of the legume family, broad beans are pretty hardy and adaptable - they grow in most soils and climates. They're a great source of protein and carbohydrates, as well as vitamins A, B1 and B2. In the US, they're known as fava beans.

Availability:
At their peak from the end of June to mid September. Broad beans are easy to grow in a vegetable patch or allotment.

Choose the best:
Buy broad beans as fresh as possible; pods should be firm and crisp. Avoid any that feel soft, with pockets of air inside.

Prepare it:
Broad beans should be podded, unless they are very young and tender. Put the beans in a pan, cover with boiling water, return to the boil and cook for 3-5 minutes. Then drain, empty into cold water, slit each pod along its seam and run your thumb along the furry inside to push the beans out.

To double pod - or remove the thin skin that covers each individual bean - use your nail to slit the skin, then pop out the bright green bean.

Store it:
Keep in a perforated bag in the fridge for up to five days.

Cook it:
Pod, purée and serve with a little fried garlic; parboil podded broad beans and peas, add some fried onion and serve with grilled halloumi and torn mint leaves. Top and tail very young broad beans and serve whole, in their pods, with a chunk of Pecorino and some bread.

Alternatives:
Try runner bean, French bean or flat bean.

These facts from here

I hope you enjoyed both the recipe idea and reading the facts.

Will you be trying this recipe out soon I wonder ...

All the best Jan