• 400 g (14 oz/2¼ cups) coarse burghul/bulghur (available from Arab delicatessens or organic supermarkets)
• 2 kg (4½ lb/11 cups) fresh broad (fava) beans
• 400 g (14 oz/2 cups) green beans
• 4 large bunches of herbs:

• parsley (preferably flat-leaf)
• basil
• lots of mint, dill or tarragon
• 2 pomegranates
• juice of 2 lemons
• 150 ml (5 fl oz/⅔ cup) high-quality olive oil
• freshly ground pepper and salt

Bring 600 ml (20 fl oz/2½ cups) water to a boil, add salt and burghul. Cook on low heat for 2 minutes and remove from heat to allow the burghul to further simmer. Stir occasionally to loosen any grains. The grains must be nice and al dente.

If they are still too hard, add a little boiling water, if they are too wet, put the pan back on the heat and stir until all the water has evaporated.

Pod the broad beans and blanch briefly in salted water. Rinse them in cold water. Pod the broad beans again to remove the grey ‘skin’ from the bean by making a cut in the side and squeezing out the green bean. Blanch the green beans, rinse in cool water and cut in three pieces.

Coarsely chop all herbs. Cut the pomegranates into sections and fill half a large bowl with water. Remove the seeds from the peel under water. The bitter white peel will float and the arils will sink. Remove the white pulp and arils from the water. Once the burghul is fluffy and fully cooled, fold in all the ingredients.

Season the salad with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

You can easily prepare this salad in advance. It can only get better.