It’s bean season! From runners and French beans to broad beans in their velvety pods, they’re ready and waiting to be turned into fabulous feasts
USE YOUR BEANS
When shopping for beans, you’ll come across umbrella descriptions such as runner, green, French and broad. But what do these mean?
■ Broadly speaking, runner bean types are long and flat, as are Helda beans, which you may see in some larger supermarkets.
■ Green and French beans (also known as fine beans) are long and round, although some are thicker and others are thinner.
■ Broad beans have thick pods lined with a soft, downy layer and are usually picked out of their pod to eat, unless they’re very young and tender, in which case you can eat them pods and all.
■ As well as green-coloured beans, there are also some purple varieties; wax beans, which are yellow or cream in colour, and borlotti beans, which are an attractive mottled pink or purple.
Broad beans with parsley, feta & almonds
This is a lovely green starter before a meaty main. You don’t have to pod the broad beans but the dish will look more vibrant for it.
■ Serves 2 ■ Prep 15 mins ■ Cook 5 mins
100g broad beans, podded weight
small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
50g vegetarian feta, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
50g almonds, skin on
1 lemon, cut into quarters
crusty bread, to serve
1 Briefly cook the broad beans in simmering water, drain and refresh in cold water. Squeeze them out of their grey outer pods, if you want.
2 Put the parsley in a bowl, add the shallot and feta. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and toast the almonds, add a little salt to the pan, toss, then add the parsley mix along with the beans. Dress with the juice from 2 lemon wedges and serve the other 2 on the side.
PER SERVING 306 kcals, fat 25g, saturates 5g, carbs 8g, sugars 4g, fibre 5g, protein 13g, salt 0.7g
Shredded chicken & runner bean salad
In Thai restaurants you may find this sort of salad made with wing beans, three-sided beans with a frill along each edge, but any kind of green bean works well. Use Thai basil for its aniseed notes, rather than ordinary basil, but coriander will work well, too.
■ Serves 4 ■ Prep 30 mins ■ Cook 5 mins
200g runner beans, topped and tailed
1 red chilli, halved and finely sliced,
use a bird’s eye chilli for more heat
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 lemongrass, finely sliced
2cm piece of ginger, shredded
2 cooked, skinless chicken breasts
small bunch of mint leaves
large bunch of Thai basil or coriander
1 lime, cut in wedges or cheeks,
to serve
steamed jasmine rice, to serve
FOR THE COCONUT DRESSING
100ml coconut cream
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 bird
