675 g/11/2 lb beans, soaked overnight: haricot, borlotti, flageolets, red kidney Dutch brown, black-eye, butter or chick-peas or black beans
Dressing
1 small onion, grated
I dried red chilli pepper, crumbled
150 ml/1/4 pint olive oil
juice of 3 lemons
salt and freshly ground black Pepper
Methods:
Discard the water the beans have been soaking in and cover with fresh water.
Boil rapidly for at least 10 minutes then simmer for 11/2-2 hours, until all the beans are tender.
Rinse in cold water, drain and leave to cool.
Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together, pour over the beans and toss lightly as some of the beans will be very soft and may break up if not handled gently.
If using canned beans, simply drain well and toss with the dressing.