Summer Fresh Bean Salad

It’s no secret that I am as lost in the kitchen as I would be at a One Direction concert, but I do have resources.  My sister-in-law knows her way around a kitchen like a pro. She reads cookbooks for fun and can make a gourmet feast for 20 without batting an eye.  She has an uncanny skill: she can open a seemingly bare fridge and stark pantry and somehow create dinner!

I am mystified!

I keep begging her to start a food blog or write her own cookbook so I don’t feel so badly hounding her simple advice, like how to chop an onion.

I asked her to share one of her favourite summer recipes (and I do think it was a struggle to narrow it down to one) so that I didn’t have to subject anyone to another recipe with supermarket-bought rotisserie chicken as the main ingredient.

Try this bean salad.  You’ll love it!

Summer Fresh Bean Salad

A great salad to make ahead. Good protein, and refreshing as a side for summer meals, or on top of lettuce as a light lunch.
2-3 cans of mixed beans, or your combination of favourite beans, rinsed (I buy the no-salt added as there is plenty of salt in the other ingredients)
1/4 red bell pepper, diced small
2 green onions (white part and some of the green chopped small)
1 celery stalk, diced small
4 slices sandwich saver pickles, diced small
1 tablespoon mustard (regular prepared, or dijon)
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Parsley – handful, chopped

Combine everything. Best when made the day before so all the flavours come together. Last for days in the fridge.

Variations/add-ins:
Purple onion, sliced thin
Can of lentils, or any other bean you prefer
Chopped dill
Diced zucchini
Leave out any ingredient you don’t like, add more of anything you love

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