My palate has never grown-up sufficiently to enjoy bitter leaves; no matter how gorgeous raddichio may be, it just doesn’t work for my poor tastebuds who invariably accuse me of trying to kill them each time I eat it.  However, I adore any sort of grain or pulse based salad.

Thankfully the Ottolenghi cookbook more or less specialises in my sort of greedily abundant, slightly sweet and carbohydrate rich salads.  If you thought the butternut squash and couscous affair was good, this butterbean and sweet chilli salad will knock your socks off.

You’ll need a little advance planning to make this fresh and zingy salad, but remembering to soak some butterbeans overnight isn’t hard, is it?  Freshly cooked butterbeans are way better than the canned ones for this salad—adding the still-warm beans to the rest of the salad ingredients allows all the flavours to start mingling and get into the silky beans. You can vary the heat of the salad by using different brands of sweet chilli sauce—I find they vary from ‘a chilli was briefly shown to a bottle of sauce’ to ‘blow your head off hot’, so choose your favourite one!

The salad tastes lovely warm, but in my opinion is far better after sitting in the fridge for a few hours to allow all the flavours to mature further.  If for some crazy reason there’s enough left to last overnight, then I brighten it up again with some extra herbs, scattered over just before serving.

This is perfect for lunches and as a side dish with some juicy grilled lamb chops.  With some crusty bread to mop up all the juices, it makes a fabulous light meal.

Butterbeans with sweet chilli sauce and fresh herbs

Serves 6

Source: Ottolenghi, The Cookbook

• 400g dried butterbeans
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 70ml sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 red peppers, halved, deseeded and cut into 2cm squares
• 4 spring onions, white and green bits, chopped
• 35g coriander, chopped
• 30g mint leaves, chopped
• coarse salt and black pepper

Put the butterbeans in a large bowl and fill with enough water to cover them by twice their volume.  Leave to soak overnight at room temperature.

The next day drain the beans and place in a large saucepan.  Cover with plenty of water and bring to a simmer.  Cook for 35-55 minutes, skimming froth from the surface and topping up with boiling water if necessary, until tender.  The cooking time will vary according to the bean size and freshness, so try them a few times during cooking so tha they don’t turn into a mush.  When they are done, drain in a colander and leave to one side.

While the beans are cooking, make the sauce.  Place the crushed garlic in a bowl large enough to hold the beans.  Add the sweet chilli sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce an lemon juice and mix well with a small whisk.  Add the red peppers, season the mixture with salt and pepper and set aside.

Once the beans have cooled down slightly but are still warm, add them to the sauce together with the spring onions, herbs and plenty of seasoning.  Mix gently with your hands to avoid breaking any of the beans.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Eat warm or cold—just remember to readjust the seasoning before serving if you chill the beans.