DOUBLE COURGETTE AND BEAN SALAD

The double component is that both courgette and bean elements are twofold: yellow and green courgettes, cut into batons, oil-dressed and oven-roasted; waxy, kidney-curling vibrantly green broad beans, and darker green fine beans, both lightly boiled then refreshed to keep their verdant intensity. It’s a salad just in the sense that all the vegetables are left to get to room temperature – though certainly no colder – before being spritzed with lemon and tossed with basil and parsley: early summer on a plate.

1kg yellow courgettes

500g green courgettes

approx. 80ml olive oil

750g fresh broad beans, podded and – I’m sorry – shelled (or 250g frozen broad beans, shelled)

250g fine green beans

salt and pepper

juice of 1 lemon

bunch fresh basil

bunch fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

Cut all the courgettes into 3 then cut each third into batons. Arrange them in a large roasting tin and coat them well with the oil. Frankly, the best way to do this is to pour the oil over and then smoosh everything about in the tin with your hands. Stick the tin in the oven and roast the courgettes for about 30 minutes, by which time they should be cooked through and golden at the edges.

While this is going on, cook the broad beans (and it truly is worth popping them out of their skins; see directions for minestrone) and fine beans separately in salted boiling water until tender, then drain and refresh them both by plunging them in iced water and then draining them again.

When the courgettes are cool, put them in a bowl with the two beans and dress them with lemon juice; the courgettes should be sufficiently, and desirably, oily to need no extra drizzling here. Chop the basil and parsley and add them to the bowl, mixing everything gently (again, just hands is easiest) to avoid squashing the courgette batons.

Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed, decant into a clean serving dish and sprinkle over whatever bits of basil and parsley are clinging to the chopping board.

Serves 4–6.