Sticky bean rice

This recipe is one good way to use up a surplus of any type of bean. I am using runner beans as I have a lot of them this year, but really any beans or pods like mange-tout can be substituted in.

My first harvest this year of runner beans

I have quite a sweet tooth - you may want to avoid the honey part of this recipe if you want to keep the sugar content down... but your rice will also not be as sticky!

You will need the following ingredients (serves 2):

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
100g pancetta, diced
50g runner beans (roughly 4 or 5 good size pods)
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp set honey
250g brown rice, pre-cooked (I cheat and use microwave rice)

Put the oil in the pan or wok, and set to a medium heat. Slice up the onion into half centimetre widths and add to the pan with the pancetta. Let this sear for a while so that the onions start to soften and go brown at the edges.

Add the runner beans - I have topped and tailed them, and then cut them into centimetre diamonds (or rhomboids, if you prefer!). Keep the contents of the pan moving around every so often.

Then add the yellow pepper, again sliced into half centimetre widths. Then add the nutmeg. Once stirred, cook the contents of the pan (stirring every so often) until all all ingredients are cooked/softened. Then add the honey, and stir in until the mixture is coated, giving it a glossy, glazed look.

Now add the rice, and stir into the sticky mixture - cook for a little longer to ensure that the whole dish is hot, and so that the honey has had a chance to coat the rice.

All you then need to do is plate up... and enjoy!