Fava beans make great hummus that can be served with pita bread or fresh vegetables. I prefer favas to chickpeas; they don’t need to be presoaked and make a smoother hummus. I used to buy mine at high-end, gourmet supermarkets until I found them for a fraction of the price in the Hispanic aisle of a local store. The expensive ones aren’t any better so don’t drive the extra miles or fork over the extra cash for the fancy packaging. Just make sure you get the ones that have already been shelled, otherwise they’d have to be soaked and peeled before cooking.

Fava Bean Hummus

1 1/2 cups dried, shelled fava beans, picked over and rinsed

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation

Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat.

Place fava beans in a large pot and cover generously with water. Cover and cook in Sun Oven until beans are soft, 2 t0 3 hours. Drain beans, reserve liquid. Transfer beans to a food processor, add the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, cumin, paprika, cayenne, and two tablespoons of the reserved liquid. Process until smooth adding additional cooking liquid to reach the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Lately I’ve been raiding Mark’s stash of corn chips when I go looking for a snack. They’re about the only thing we ever have in the house that are not sweet and require absolutely no preparation.

That’s the funny thing about my house, it’s always full of food but apart from fresh fruit there’s almost nothing that can just be eaten as is and sometimes I want to eat something now. I was hoping seasoned dehydrated veggies could become a new-found version of chips; a salty snack ready to eat straight from the container, but I think I’m going to have to keep looking. Not that the dehydrated zucchini I made the other day are bad, they just lack the satisfying crunch of chips.

Making them was, however, a good learning experience. I got started early and had the thinly sliced, lightly seasoned zucchini ready to go as soon as the sun hit the back yard. By the last rays of the day they were dehydrated to perfection. I’d seasoned them with garlic powder, dried basil, and salt. The flavor was good, and I did manage to stay away from the bag of chips in the pantry, but I think they’d be better as an ingredient in risottos or soups than on their own. I guess I’ll have to find something else to deal with the mid-afternoon hunger pangs.

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that somehow manage to hide in my refrigerator until it’s time to use it or lose it. This versatile recipe is perfect for rescuing the ones I catch in time. It can be used as a spread on crackers, a dip for pita chips, or as a layer in lasagna. It will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Solar Roasted Eggplant Spread

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant

2 red bell peppers, seeded

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 sun dried tomatoes

Preparation

Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat

Cut the eggplant, bell peppers, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them with the oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread them on a large, rimmed baking pan. Cook, uncovered, in the Sun Oven until the vegetables are soft, about 1 1/2 hours.

While the vegetables are cooking soak the sun dried tomatoes in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess water.

Remove vegetables from the Sun Oven and cool slightly. Put the vegetables and the sun dried tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until blended. Adjust for salt and pepper.

These beans make a great side dish on their own, but be sure to set some aside (and save the cooking liquid) for a delicious soup later in the week. If you can’t find cannellini, any white bean will do. Same goes for the greens, curly kale can be substituted for the Tuscan.

Solar Simmered Cannellini with Kale

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dried cannellini beans, picked over and rinsed

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups coarsely chopped stemmed Tuscan kale

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Dried crushed red pepper

Preparation

Put beans in a large bowl and add enough water to cover by 3 inches, soak overnight.

Place Global Sun Oven out to preheat.

Drain beans. Put beans in a large pot. Add 8 cups water, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and sage. Cover and place in GSO. Cook until beans are tender, about 2 hours. Stir in salt. Add kale, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

Drain beans and kale. (Reserve cooking liquid and store in the fridge in a covered container for soup.) Add oil, lemon juice, add red pepper to taste. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Solar Green Bean and Potato Pie (adapted from ‘Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking’ by Marcella Hazan)

Ingredients

1/2 pound boiling potatoes

1 pound fresh green beans

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

Extra virgin olive oil

Plain bread crumbs

A 9-inch springform pan

Preparation

Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat.

Wash the potatoes, put them in a pot with enough cold water to cover them well and bring to a boil.

Trim the green beans and soak them in a large boil of cold water for 10 minutes. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt. When water returns to a rapid boil add the drained green beans. Adjust heat so that it boils at a moderate pace. Drain the beans when they are just tender and have lost their raw flavor, 6 to 10 minutes. Chop the beans until very fine in a food processor, do not puree. Drain the potatoes when tender. Peel them and pass them through a food mill or potato ricer. Combine beans, potatoes, eggs, salt, pepper, and marjoram in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly. Lightly smear the baking pan with olive oil. Sprinkle bread crumbs generously over the bottom and the sides of the pan, invert the pan to shake out excess crumbs. Put bean and potato mixture into the pan, distributing it evenly and leveling it with a spatula. Top with more bread crumbs and a drizzling of olive oil. Bake in the GSO for about 90 minutes. Cool on a rack for about ten minutes, run a knife around the edges and carefully release the ring of the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

Oven roasted garlic is delicious and the Global Sun Oven does a great job of bringing out its sweet and mellow flavor. Serve this garlicky dip with vegetable crudités and toasted French bread. The recipe calls for canned beans, but dry beans that have been cooked ahead of time work just as well.

Solar Garlic White Bean Dip

Ingredients

3 (15 oz cans) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons dried sage

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Preparation

Place Global Sun Oven out to preheat

Combine beans, water, cheese, garlic, oil, sage, oregano, salt, and pepper in a 5 to 6 quart pot. Cover and cook in GSO until garlic is browned, about 1 hour.

Add lemon juice and zest; coarsely mash with a potato masher until all the ingredients are blended. If mixture is too dry add warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it becomes thick and spreadable.