I couldn’t resist trying this recipe by Meera Sodha in the Guardian. She writes that her recipe taster had tried it out on her family and they were ‘obsessed’. What better recommendation could there be? More and more herbs are being treated as vegetables which, for me, is great.

This dish has now become a firm favourite with us. I prefer to use dry beans as I like more bite than most tinned beans have. Good quality dry butter beans are increasingly difficult to find. I recently bought a packet of Wilton Wholefoods beans from our local shop. They were excellent. I also trust Essential products.

20g flat leaf parsley, leaves
20g basil, leaves
20g mint, leaves
3 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
Olive oil
2 x 400g tins butter beans or 200g dry beans, soaked overnight and boiled in fresh water (retain some of the water)
1 onion peeled and finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely sliced (but no need to deseed)
Salt

Finely chop the herbs together with one of the garlic cloves and capers. Transfer into a bowl and stir in five tablespoons of olive oil plus the red wine vinegar.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add the onion. Cook on a medium heat for about eight minutes or until the onion is soft and starting to colour. Add the second garlic clove and the chilli and cook for a few minutes more.

Put in the beans together with the liquid from one tin (or a small glass of the cooking liquid if using dry beans) and cook for about 10 minutes or until the beans are heated through and the liquid reduced. Check liquid. Stir in the salsa verde and add salt to taste.

Served with toasted ciabatta or rustic bread this is a great dish for a light lunch.