1 small head fennel
12 green olives, pitted
2 small Persian cucumbers or 1/3 English cucumber
½ cup peeled fava beans, from about 1lb fava bean pods*
1 Meyer lemon
8 oz cooked tuna or tuna confit - recipe follows
½ cup picked parsley leaves
½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
2-3 tablespoons olive oil (can be from the tuna)
Freshly ground pepper
Shave the fennel thinly on a mandolin. Place in a medium bowl.
Roughly chop the olives and add to the fennel.
Cut the cucumber in half and slice ¼ -inch thick and add to bowl.
Cut the lemon in half and thinly slice one half then cut into eighths. Add to bowl.
Squeeze the other half lemon and drizzle over ingredients in the bowl.
Drain and break tuna into chunks and add to other ingredients along with the picked parsley leaves and olive oil. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and a few grindings of black pepper.
Toss gently and taste to see if is is well seasoned. Add more slat, pepper or lemon juice if necessary. Serve.
Serves 6 as an appetizer
*Remove the fava beans from the pods. Make an ice bath with some ice and cold water. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the fava beans for 3-4 minutes, depending on the size. Immediately plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking. To remove the waxy coating, break the outer shell and pop the bright green beans out.