Rinse and pick over the beans to make sure there are no bruised beans or small pebbles. Put in a pot or bowl with about 4 C. (1 L) filtered water. Let sit overnight. Check them before you go to bed; you may need to add a little more water to them.

When you are ready to cook the beans, rinse them in a colander and let them drain.

Wash the tomato, potato, garlic bulb (yes, that's an entire head of garlic, not a typo), and the herbs. Tie the herbs together with some kitchen string.

Put the beans in a cooking pot with 4 C. filtered water (1 L), and the tomato, potato, garlic, bay leaves, and herb bundle.

Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 60 minutes until the beans are tender but not mushy.

Fish out the herb bundle, garlic, potato, and tomato with a slotted spoon. Remove the tomato skin and squish out the garlic centers into a your serving bowl. Mash everything together into a soft paste. (Compost the herb bundle, garlic skin, and tomato skin.)

Pour off most of the liquid from the beans, then add them to the bowl, stirring to mix thoroughly. Add vinegar and oil (about 1 part vinegar to 4 parts oil), and salt and pepper to taste.

Finely chop some parsley and add the zest from one lemon. If you like raw garlic, add some very finely chopped garlic. Top the beans with this mixture, which is called gremolata.