An Honest Recipe

Let the bean recipe parade continue!  Thanks to some great suggestions by you lovely readers, I’ve jumped out of my tattered box of typical green bean preparations to embrace some interesting uses for these crisp linear vegetables.  I feel enlightened!  And well-fed! 

Today’s recipe is a good bit healthier than my crazy beer-battered string beans.  And, truth be told, it’s not terribly creative as I’m sure you’ve all had some form of Three Bean Salad at a family reunion or other summer potluck dinner.  However, after perusing many a recipe for this dish, I feel fairly confident that mine is the only one that actually uses just three kinds of beans!  Most have at least five, some even had more!  It got me thinking.  Why the heck are they all called three bean salads then?   Do tell if you know!

I chose to stick with just three types of beans in my salad because I wanted to use up as many green beans as possible.  That and I consider myself to be an honest recipe writer.  Using so many fresh beans kept this salad’s flavor summery and light. 

This salad was actually made over the weekend.  I waited to post it because I wanted to test out the notion that numeric bean salads always taste better after a few days in the fridge.  Having just had a bowl here for dinner on Tuesday evening, I can safely say I concur!  That being said, I liked mine just fine right after I made it too.

You might notice I call for a dash of rose water in the recipe.  I was looking for a faint floral note when I put it in the salad.  The day I made the salad, I found it just a tad over powering of the other flavors.  Today though, it’s the perfect accent now that tangy, sweet, salty, and floral have all decided to hold hands and play nicely together.

Speaking of perfect, next time I’ll tell you about the green bean risotto I made last night… divine!

 

True Three Bean Salad
Loosely based off a combination of Allrecipes.com recipes

2 C. chopped fresh green beans
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can white or red kidney beans, drained
1 small red onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1/4 C. red wine vinegar
1/4 C. white sugar
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1/4 t. rose water (optional)
1/4 t. ground dry mustard
1/4 t. dried marjoram
1/2 t. dried or fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water up to a boil.  Add the fresh green beans and cook for five minutes.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Drain again.         

In a large bowl, combine all three beans, onion and green pepper. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, oil, mustard, marjoram and cilantro.  Pour over bean mixture. Stir until all ingredients are coated. Let the salad marinate in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, stirring occasionally.   Serve chilled or at room temperature.

(serves 6)