Runner Bean and Freekeh Bowl with Blistered Tomatoes and Almonds
0
Runner beans climb their poles all through the warm months and, by early September, throw out more pods than one household can eat — the trick is picking at 15–20 cm (6–8 in), before the seeds bulge and the pods turn leathery. This bowl catches them at that stage, still squeaky from the blanching pot, against smoky freekeh and cherry tomatoes blistered until their skins split into a dressing of their own juices.
⏱ Prep 20 min🔥 Cook 25 min👥 Serves 4📊 Level Easy
Ingredients for 4 people
1 cup (180 g) cracked freekeh (or pearl barley, farro, or short-grain brown rice)
12 oz (350 g) runner beans, strings removed (flat romano beans or green beans work)
10 oz (300 g) cherry tomatoes, mixed colours if you grow them
5 tbsp (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small red onion (about 2½ oz / 70 g), sliced paper-thin
1 tbsp (15 ml) sherry vinegar (red wine vinegar is a straight swap)
1 unwaxed lemon — all the zest, half the juice
⅓ cup (40 g) skin-on almonds
1 large handful (about 25 g) basil leaves, plus a few bronze fennel or dill fronds
3½ oz (100 g) ricotta salata, feta or firm goat cheese, crumbled (optional)
Flaky salt and coarsely cracked black pepper
The Recipe
Put the sliced red onion in a small bowl with the sherry vinegar and a pinch of salt and leave it while you cook everything else. Fifteen minutes in acid breaks down the sulphur compounds that make raw onion harsh and turns the slices translucent pink — you get the crunch without the afterburn.
Rinse the freekeh in cold water until the water runs clear, then simmer it in well-salted water for 18–20 minutes, until each grain is tender but still resists between the teeth with a faint pop. Drain it well and spread it on a wide tray rather than leaving it in the pan; steam trapped in a heap turns the grains pasty within minutes.
While the freekeh is still warm, toss it with 2 tbsp of the olive oil, the lemon zest and a good pinch of salt. Warm starch is thirsty and pulls dressing right into the grain; the same freekeh dressed cold sits in a slick at the bottom of the bowl. Do not skip this step — it is the difference between a seasoned grain and a wet one.
Top and tail the runner beans and pull the string from both seams, then slice them on a long diagonal into pieces about ½ in (1 cm) wide. The diagonal exposes more surface to the dressing, and any string left in place will stay stubbornly tough no matter how long you cook it.
Boil the beans in heavily salted water (it should taste like a clear soup) for 3–4 minutes, until the colour jumps to a loud grass green and a piece bends without snapping. Drain and plunge straight into iced water for one minute, then dry them on a cloth. The ice bath halts carryover cooking at exactly the right point and locks that green; wet beans afterwards will dilute the dressing.
Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, shaking often, until they smell like warm biscuit and the skins crack. Tip them out at once onto a cold plate — left in the hot pan they keep cooking and turn bitter. Chop them coarsely so you get shards rather than dust.
Return the pan to high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil and the cherry tomatoes and leave them completely undisturbed for 2 minutes. You want to hear a steady sizzle and see black blisters on the undersides before you shake the pan; moving them early releases juice that steams the skins instead of charring them. After 4–5 minutes total, when most have split, take the pan off the heat, add the sliced garlic and swirl for 30 seconds in the residual heat — garlic added over the flame at this point scorches in seconds.
Crush about a third of the tomatoes against the pan with a spoon, add the drained vinegar from the onions and the last 1 tbsp of oil, and scrape up everything stuck to the base: this is the dressing. Fold the warm tomatoes and their juices through the freekeh, then add the beans, pickled onion, half the almonds and the lemon juice. Tear the basil in at the very last moment — cut or bruised basil blackens and turns medicinal within minutes. Scatter the remaining almonds, the fennel or dill fronds, the cheese if using, flaky salt and cracked pepper, and serve while the tomatoes are still warm against the cold beans.
