6 oz. green beans or yellow wax beans
Salted water
2 med. sized tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1-2 tbsp. mixed fresh herbs such as marjoram, basil, thyme, savory
Narrow strip of lemon rind
1 sm. red or yellow onion, quartered, thinly sliced crosswise
1 each small red & yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 green or golden patty pan squash, quartered, thinly sliced
2 zucchini halved, sliced
5-6 mushrooms, thinly sliced or quartered
2-3 tbsp. virgin olive oil
About 1/2 c. water
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
Juice of 1/2 lemon, or more to taste
Freshly ground pepper

1. Use tender, small beans and leave them whole or, if you're using longer ones, cut them into pieces about 3 inches long. Heat a generous amount of salted water to a boil, add the beans and cook until just tender. Remove them with a scoop, rinse them briefly, and set them aside.

2. Plunge the tomatoes into the pot for 10 seconds. Remove the core and slip off the peel. Cut them in half and gently squeeze out the seeds. Cut into nice-looking pieces.

3. Chop the garlic with half the herbs and the lemon rind and prepare all the other vegetables.

4. Gently warm the olive oil in a large, wide pan and add the onion and half the garlic-herb mixture. Cook slowly over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes. Add the peppers, squash and mushrooms. Add half the water, season lightly with salt, and cook until the vegetables have begun to soften, about 5 minutes. If the liquid evaporates, add more water in small increments just to cover the bottom of the pan.

5. Add the green beans and tomatoes and continue cooking until they are warm; then stir in the butter, the remaining herbs and lemon juice. Raise the heat a little to help melt the butter and shake the pan bake and forth to combine all the juices. Taste for salt. Add more lemon juice, if desired and pepper to taste. There should be an herbaceous sauce at the end, the tender (but not overly so) vegetables, and a soft perfume of garlic and herbs.