A fanfare for runner beans

Favourite recipes and why I like them more each year

While I take a few weeks off, we will be sharing some old favourite summer newsletters from the last ten years of recipes. This one is a throwback to July 2022.

I like runner beans more and more each year. My Dad, Roger, is also a runner bean fan. Growing up, he'd slice them using a little 70's bean slicer which took the stringy sides off and sliced them into long thin, almost spaghetti like pieces. We'd eat them boiled (sometimes a bit too much) with salt and butter. 

I think runner beans deserve as much fanfare as asparagus or tomatoes. They are summer to me. I ate some great ones at Towpath cafe in Hackney. Simply blanched and on top of a plateful of romesco sauce. They were the beans all my runners will have to live up to this summer. 

So today some runner recipes I love. I don't de-string them unless they are old. July is the  start of  the season so hopefully you won't need to either until much later in the season. I don't use the slicer anymore but most often cut them on the diagonal into 3-4cm pieces.

Anna x

Good things to click on:

• A terrazzo breakfast

• A close at look / listen to the female body

• Printed placemats that look woven

• Gatherings for South London creatives

• Crafting treasure out of scrap

• How the food we love shapes our lives

• Two favourites in a tea towel

• In search of the perfect peach

• More runner beans

• Beads to match your favourite shirt

• A summer sale not to miss

• French cooking, for one

• Be the first to book this exciting event, I can’t wait.