• 1½  lbs (675g) french beans
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¾ pint (400ml) vegetable stock
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped,
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Method:

• Rinse and top and tail the beans
• Crush the garlic.
• Heath the oil in a medium sized pan.
• Add the garlic, salt and sugar, stir well and cook slowly for a minute or two.
• Add the beans and stir well until they are coated with the oil and garlic and continue cooking slowly for 5 minutes.
• Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil, cover the pan and simmer until the beans are tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
• Add the lemon juice and pepper to taste.
• Serve either hot or cold garnished with the chopped tomato, hard-boiled egg and sprinkled with the chives.

Serves 4.