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That flageolet bean recipe and a vegan(ish) dinner

Angus and Clive came over last night and I wanted to make something other than a curry to meet their collective vegetarian/dairy intolerant needs.

I had a few pages ripped out of assorted newspapers with tempting looking salads awaiting testing, so I picked a couple of them and decided to make a Spanish omelette to go on the side. I’ve had differing degrees of success with various Spanish omelette recipes in the past, but a quick rummage around the internet took me to one of Felicity Cloake’s “How to make the perfect…” recipes from the Guardian Spanish omelette recipe.  Why muck about when Felicity has told you how to get it exactly right? I hesitate to pronounce my efforts “perfect” but it was pretty damn good.

Both salads were great – a spelt salad with red onions, tomatoes, parsley and olive oil. And spelt is spectacularly good for you as well as being a great base for a salad. I’ll definitely be trying it with other combinations. The other one was a good way to use up the extra bag of radishes I accidentally bought with my online shopping: mixed them up with some cucumber, more red onion, toasted pine nuts and a dressing made with honey, orange blossom water, olive oil, lemon juice and mint.

Not a meal for anyone with an aversion to onions, but it was all very tasty and a we had a most jolly evening. I did persuade Angus to try a pear tart, despite the presence of butter in the pastry and the almond cream – hoping he survived…

And now, that flageolet bean recipe

After a bit of a delay, here is one of the recipes I have been asked to share (sweet potato salad coming soon, Jenny). Hope it was worth the wait (Moira, I’m talking about you!!). It’s more or less a Bertinet recipe, with a glass of wine thrown in for good measure. They don’t look much in the picture, but they are utterly irresistible.

Flageolet beans to go with lamb or just to eat whenever you walk past the fridge:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with the back of a knife
sprig of thyme
sprig of rosemary
200g crème fraiche
small glass of white wine (optional)
2 tins of flageolet beans (or dried ones, soaked overnight and cooked according to the instructions on the packet)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the shallot, garlic and herbs. Cook over a medium heat until the shallot is soft but not brown.
Add wine if using and the crème fraiche and stir till they are heated through.
Add the beans and heat very gently for around 15 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.

You can also bake these in a medium oven with a topping of breadcrumbs, grated parmesan and melted butter. Mmmmmm.