You know what it’s like when you get overenthusiastic in the green grocer’s and come home with lots of lovely fruit and vegetables, and then for one reason or another – unexpectedly go out several times, husband’s cooked something else, you don’t fancy it, you forget it – you end up with rather sorry looking bits and pieces…
I got over excited when I saw a bag of lovely perfect courgette’s for a pound in the shop; I love courgettes – raw in salad, thinly sliced in vinegar, fried, in stews, in soup… but for some reason the last three or four just got left, along with some red pointy peppers and some home-grown runner beans which I forgot about.
The easiest thing with sad, bendy veg is to chop them into chunks and roast them in the oven with a lot of olive oil… and this is what I did. I cut the courgettes lengthways (once I’d sliced off the squidgy, mouldyish ends) sliced the pointy peppers similarly, and then when I was looking for the half onion I knew I had somewhere, I came across the floppy runner beans. last weekend in London we went to the most amazing café/restaurant for lunch, and I had a dried green bean salad – it was so delicious, so I was inspired to do use the beans I had – I’ve never roasted runner beans before. I stuck some cloves of garlic in between it all, sprinkled with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, a good grind of pepper and salt, poured on some olive oil and teriyaki sauce, and I stuck it in a hotter oven than usual, for about 20-25 mins. I took it out after about ten minutes and basted it with the olive oil and juices. When I took it out, a couple of the peppers had slightly charred and I basted it all again and then left it to get cold.
That was yesterday… I garnished it with freshly torn basil and oregano leaves and had it for lunch today with some Camembert…
Lois Elsden 