Green beans and tomatoes

A match made in heaven, green beans and tomatoes are for me the classic summery dish. Some may be surprised at that - isn't it the midwinter when we crave beans on toast with tomato ketchup? Well - we need to specify the vegetable here.

Say ‘beans’ and a lot of people will think of legumes: edible seeds in inedible pods. Borlotti, cannellini, black, kidney or broad (fava), all except the last are a completely different kettle of fish. Their place is in a cassoulet, falafel, chilli or on toast – firmly winter fodder. Apparently legumes are now contentious - thankfully only for the paleolytics who believe the caveman didn’t know how to shell the pods and so we shouldn’t either. But no need to consider the ridiculousness of that principle now.

Beans in the dish here are the pods with seeds inside, all of it edible. Confusingly known under a variety of monikers: French, green, string or snap beans, they come in different colours as well – yellow (wax), purple or green. It’s the fresh and snappy stalks, with good reason called ‘asparagus beans’ in some languages, that we’re on about here.

It’s quite incredible what difference freshness makes to vegetables. I’m lucky to have beans straight from their stalks at the bottom of the garden and tomatoes from just outside my windows. Use tired, wilted Kenyan saddos plus supermarket, picked-too-early fruit and you’ll be totally puzzled what’s to like in my dish. But local or farmers markets will do better – make sure the beans are firm and tomatoes ripe, and you’re in for a treat.