Dried beans generally make people nervous. They look like hard work and in our want-it-now lifestyle they seem like too much forward planning work. Plus you have to boil them for hours don’t you? Erm, well no! And they are a quick and easy way of making something special out of a couple of very simple recipes in this double whammy of a dish. I like to serve it hot one day as a side, almost like a bit of a stew. Then next day it makes a great base for a salad – I just add some finely chopped red onion and a tin of tuna for a completely different take on the dish. The perfect salad. So if you are getting at least two meals out of the dish perhaps it’s worth boiling those beans after all!

The beans I use are called Argentinian Beans, they are slightly bigger than a cannellini but smaller than a butter bean. They are sometimes known as ‘white beans’ which is an accurate description. I usually pick them up from the Mediterranean section of larger supermarkets or in Greek or Turkish supermarkets.

The only prep you need to do is to soak the beans the night before or pop them in cold water first thing. I would let them have pretty much 12 hours but more is fine too. They will really plump up and mean you have to cook them for less time. And don’t be fooled by how simple this dish is, I promise you it is so tasty.

Dried beans are also brilliant to have in your store cupboard as they can be added to soups, stews and salads and take up less space than the canned variety. They also work out very cost effective. The beans in this dish come to a purse friendly 75p and overall the dish can be made for around £1.90 for four portions of the stew. A little more when the tin of tuna and onion is added.

If you feel you need to bulk out the salad the next day you can serve the beans on a bed of green salad or mix in some shredded spinach.