Avocado, Fava Bean, Quinoa Salad

I know I posted recently that I hadn't made this salad yet, but I did recently for an ex-pat 4th of July party (great idea) where I was asked to serve/help at. Fava beans aren't very common to find - they are also called broad beans - but I got them at Philbrick's FreshMarket, organic, and they looked as though they were pretty freshly picked. We had some bright orange nasturtiums from Charlie's farm (they are kitty-corner from Applecrest at the Porstmouth farmer's market on Saturday morning) - they are edible flowers that are sweet but have a bit of a tangy, spicy bite at the end - I don't know why some flowers are edible more than others, I think something to do with the pollen, but they are a beautiful addition to salads!

fava beans are much larger than shell peas - make sure to discard the skin from around the shells after peeling. cut the ends off the top and bottom and pull the thread down the middle for easing shelling.

cut the avocado in half. make slices lengthwise and then trace the knife around the skin and squeeze out - cut in half if need to. to take out the pit, hack it with the knife and it should come out easily or follow around with the knife and poke it out.

not the best looking picture - taken in the car on the way to the party - but it was pretty tasty. healthy, crunchy and colourful!

click here for the recipe

oh, and since I was working I didn't really get a chance to eat so...hopefully it tasted ok!! The hired help may or may not have been seen snacking off one of the guests plate aka mum's...