Summer bean salad

Taken from "VEG: simple, stylish and seasonal vegetarian cooking" by Catherine Mason (Pauntley Press, 2001, ISBN: 0-9534879-2-8, price £12.99)
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Mainly because I prefer them that way, but partly from laziness, I like to pick beans from the garden when they are still small enough to require no preparation other than `top and tailing'. At about 10 cm (4 inches) long and less than pencil thickness, they are tender and delicate, requiring only minimal cooking. If, as invariably happens, you end up with beans of greatly differing size, it is worth grading them into two or three batches to be cooked separately, the largest for a couple of minutes longer than the smaller ones.

If you can't get hold of small yellow French beans just use all runners.

• 230 g (8 oz) baby runner beans
• 230 g (8 oz) baby golden French beans
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar (or other mild wine vinegar)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Wash, top and tail both types of beans, keeping them separate. Boil or steam them in separate batches, until just tender but still with some bite. For very small, tender beans this can take as little as 3 minutes, but larger, tougher beans may take 10 minutes or more - you'll need to keep testing them.

Make a dressing by mixing the oil and vinegar in a large bowl with a little salt and pepper. As soon as each batch of beans is cooked, put them into the bowl with the dressing. They seem to absorb the flavouring better if marinaded while they are still warm. Don't add the herbs until just before serving, as they discolour.

The beans can be served warm or cold.

SERVES 2-3

Recipe copyright © 2001 Catherine Mason | other sample recipes