Spiced runner beans and lentils

Runner beans feel like the most English of vegetables, more often found in gardens or allotments than in the shops. I don't often buy them - they can be hard to find in the shops - but I was happy to get these from a friend's vegetable garden.

Then I went down a not-very-English route, with warm spices, red lentils for body and a tin of tomatoes for extra depth.

Salad of roasted tomatoes and rocket

Summer is fast disappearing, so I'm enjoying tomatoes while I can - they never taste the same when they haven't had the benefit of sunshine to ripen them. I find peppers to be more consistent year-round, but they still feel like a late-summer ingredient. So here's an easy salad that just needs a bit of time in the oven to draw out the sweetness and emphasise the flavour of the vegetables. Then there's some garlic and coriander to wake them up a bit more.