I spotted this idea in Simon Hopkinson’s book Week In Week Out—an impressive tome with wonderful photos.
Two small tins of Borlotti beans that came back with us from Italy after the last olive harvest have been on my mind recently.
I like these nutty brown beans which are more difficult to source here in France–this recipe jogged my memory and whetted my appetite.
The green bean season is coming to an end–but I had a couple of handfuls in a bag in the fridge–bought in the organic market last Thursday–needing to be eaten.
Eureka! lunch dish–to go with the omelettes.
1 medium tin of borlotti beans–(of course you can use white beans)
2 handfuls of green beans
olive oil
salt and pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice to finish
- Gently heat the borlotti beans in the juice from the tin–(add more water if necessary).
- Cook the green beans to just tender–in plenty of salted boiling water.
- Drain and arrange both sets of beans on a wide plate and generously sprinkle over olive oil.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn the beans in the oil.
- Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
- We ate the whole plateful!
Robin Ellis 
New Directions is very exciting! I shall I shall try this very soon. Just had some baba ganesh – it has become a standard vegan resource with me now. Thank you! I wonder if you are for or against soya. It has low GI and I feel it has saved my husband’s life. I have added the powder and lecithin to his food for over three years. He had a year in hospital against his will during which time he was wrecked, had three mini strokes and was told that he only had a few months to live. After I eventually got him removed, I worked on his nutrition with massive supplementation, no further strokes and he now has a reasonable quality of life. It seems to me we don’t really know how to use soya here apart from adding it to stirfries or as I do – very unimaginatively. There are many studies that prove it contributes brilliantly to welIbeing as we get older. I wonder if it would be possible to bring it in to a mediterranean type of flavouring/cooking. There is an interesting type of food which you possibly already know about – I think it is called shojin ryori – the vegan food of Japanese monasteries – it is very special and quite different from standard Japanese food. I sampled it on a brief visit to Kyoto some years ago and it was delicious, although I find seaweed type flavours foreign to my perhaps somewhat unsophisticated taste. The book I have is called ‘The Enlightened Kitchen’ but there also others. However, maybe this is for New Directions 2!!
thank you and what a story! Your husband is lucky to have you working so effectively.
Soya I haven’t worked with. The natural ingredients available in the markets here keep me busy.
I’ll look into it. Congratulations–it’s inspiring to hear what you are doing.
We have Borlotti beans grown here in California. My daughter works for a company (Rancho Gordo) that contracts to grow heirloom beans in Mexico and California. The company is based here in Napa, but they ship the dried beans all over the country. They are very popular at the fancy restaurants like The French Laundry. They are all so much better than your average beans.