Cheese and Beans on Toast

It's raining. You got home late. The fridge has nothing in it that suggests ambition, and you haven't got the energy for a recipe that asks you to chop an onion. This is the meal for that evening.

Beans on toast and cheese on toast are both good on their own. Together, they become something that has no business being as satisfying as it is. The beans, hot and savoury, spooned over bread that's been toasted firm and buttered while it's still warm. The cheddar piled on top, thick enough that it takes a few minutes under the grill to melt and blister into something golden and slightly charred at the edges. There are few better feelings than carrying this to the table on a cold night, knowing it took ten minutes and cost almost nothing.

I wrote it down in the notebook once: beans, cheese, toast, rain. That's the whole recipe, really. The rest is just detail.

I won't pretend this is anything more than what it is. We're only making dinner. But a good tin of beans, proper bread, and cheddar with enough bite to hold its own: that's a meal worth sitting down for. Your kitchen, your rules.