Three-Bean Salad

From the book The Basic Gourmet by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, Kathleen Taggart, and Georgia Vareldzis

Serves

Introduction

Our preference is very much for foods cooked from a fresh state, but once in a while we find the supermarket offers some great and tasty convenience. Such is the case with a bean salad made from three different varieties of canned beans. We recommend that you rinse all the beans in a colander before mixing them with the other ingredients. This helps remove a bit of the tinny taste that can be in the liquid. This is great picnic or barbecue fare.

Ingredients

	1	(15 oz.) can red kidney beans
	1	(15 oz.) can white kidney beans or cannellini beans
	1	(15 oz.) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
	½	medium-size green bell pepper, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
	1	small red onion (about 4 ounces), thinly sliced
	¼	cup chopped fresh parsley
	3	slices bacon (optional), crisply cooked and chopped

Lemon Vinaigrette

	⅓	cup extra-virgin olive oil
	1	Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
	½	tsp. Dijon-style mustard
	1	clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
	½	teapsoon salt
	~	Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps

Place the ingredients for vinaigrette in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well to mix and set aside.
Drain all the beans together in a colander. Rinse well and allow excess water to drain off. Place chopped bell pepper, sliced onion, and chopped parsley in a large mixing bowl. add drained beans, pour on vinaigrette and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
At serving time, place in a colorful bowl and, if you like, garnish with crisp bacon.

Notes

This salad improves if made several hours to a day before serving.
If you wish to make a smaller quantity of salad, just use two varieties of beans and then cut the other ingredients by a third.
About 1/2 cup of any fresh and flavorful vinaigrette can be used to toss with the beans (see The Purist’s Green Salad). A tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs also makes a nice addition, especially fresh basil or thyme.

This content is from the book The Basic Gourmet by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, Kathleen Taggart, and Georgia Vareldzis.