Instructions: Serves 6 as a salad or side dish

Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into a medium-size Dutch oven or pot and set over medium heat. Take 1/2 the onion, cut in half again and add to pot with carrot and celery. Tie oregano, thyme and 6 parsley sprigs into a piece of cheesecloth and set into pot. Saute 3 or 4 minutes until the onion begins to soften. Add shell beans and cover with water so its about 1 inch over the beans. Bring water to a very gentle simmer. Check beans periodically. When they are done they will be very tender and creamy, but not mushy. If they are at all crunchy or starchy, continue cooking. They should be done anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the bean.

When beans are cooked, season with salt until the liquid tastes like lightly salty sea water and plunge 2 healthy sprigs of fresh basil into pot. Stir, remove from heat and drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil over the top. Set in refrigerator to cool.

While the beans are cooling, cut kernels off the corn cobs using a serrated-edge knife. (This would also be a good time to cook the fava beans if you plan to do the recipe variation below). Finely chop remaining 1/2 onion and sweat over low heat in 1 tablespoon olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add corn and saute a few minutes, until just tender. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Once beans are cooled to room temperature, discard the vegetables and herbs and strain off the liquid. You can save this tasty broth for another use. Toss together the corn, shell beans and cherry tomatoes. Have within reach the extra virgin olive oil, lemon, basil, parsley and salt and pepper.

Drizzle enough oil to lightly coat beans. Add a squeeze of lemon juice; tear small pieces of basil and parsley into dish. Then season with salt and pepper, alternately tasting and seasoning the dish until the flavors meld. No single ingredient should dominate. If you like, you can zest a bit of lemon peel into it.

Arrange the bean dish on a plate or shallow bowl and pass the cheese with a grater around the table to shave over the salad.

Variation: For an added element, substitute 1/2 pound of shell beans listed above with 1 pound of fava beans. Prepare favas by removing them from their pods. Then blanch for 1 to 2 minutes in salted boiling water, until tender and not starchy. Plunge cooked beans into a bowl of ice water. Finally, slit the end of each bean with your thumb and press it between your thumb and forefinger to pop it out of the skin before tossing the favas with the salad.

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