Lupini beans

I've been hearing about these elusive beans for years and was beginning to think they were myths, like Zeus, Xenu, homoepathy, and Rush Limbaugh's college education.

And then I found them in my beloved market--Wegmans.

I had read they needed to be heavily salted in the cooking process, and man, that was the understatement of the century.  It was like a salt lick!

I rinsed the beans a number of times with filtered water.  I added a garlic clove, a few slices of lemon and some fennel fronds, then let them marinate for a few weeks in the fridge.  Much better.  They are pretty tasty and crunchy.  I know "crunchy" usually is an insult when it comes to a bean dish, but in this case, it's intentional.

You have to peel them, which makes a mess, so this is not a good first date food--but worth a try.