Step 1 Prepare the favas: Peel the fava beans out of the pods; you should have about 3 cups. In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch the shelled favas for 2 minutes. Cool in an ice bath. Peel the outer skin from each bean and set aside; you will have about 1 1/2 cups.
Step 2 Season the salmon fillets with a pinch each of salt and pepper.
Step 3Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it just begins to smoke, add the salmon, skin-side down (be careful; the oil will splatter when the fish is added). Cook the salmon until the skin begins to crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic to the pan with the fish.
Step 4Using a soup spoon, spoon the hot olive oil over the fish (do not turn it over), tilting the pan to spoon it up. Stir the garlic around the fish so that it cooks evenly while you continue to spoon the hot oil over the fish. Do this until the fish is cooked to the desired doneness, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the fish from the pan.
Step 5Add the fava beans to the pan, along with the juice and zest from the lemon and as many grinds of black pepper as you like. Cook just until the favas are warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and spoon the favas and garlic among 4 plates, topping the mixture with the fish, skin-side up. Spoon some pan juices over the fish and serve immediately.