All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Monday, February 16, 2009

tuscan bean salad





I hope everyone had a happy and delicious Valentine's Day! After all that chocolate, I was ready to make this salad today - white beans with garlic, parsley, herbs, and grape tomatoes, or sun dried tomatoes, if you prefer a chewier texture.
I made this salad for years for the local stores around here, and I still have people asking when and if I'll start up again. I'm not sure I want to commit to that, so I'll just direct people to this page. It's a wonderful salad to pack for lunch at the office, or a picnic, or even for school.
To make:
2 cups small white beans, dried
4 bay leaves
1 peeled onion, intact
1 t. oregano
Pick through the beans and discard any pebbles. Place in a large pot with the bay leaves, onion and oregano and cover with water - about 6 inches of water above the beans. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about an hour. Keep tasting the beans to make sure they're not getting mushy. When they are just soft, strain and discard the bay leaves and onion.
Place cooked beans in a large bowl.
Add:
1 T. fresh lemon juice
4 T. or more red wine vinegar
4 T. or more olive oil
4 cloves mashed garlic
3/4 cup scallions, sliced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper ( freshly ground)
1 t. basil, dry, or 2 T. fresh, chopped
1 t. oregano, dry
1/2 t. thyme
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved, or 7 sun dried tomatoes, snipped with scissors
Toss together and taste, taste, taste. Taste right away, and taste again a half hour later, since the seasonings are absorbed by the white beans.
You can eat this as is, or stuff into peppers, wraps, or omelets or pasta. It's also great as a party dish with tortilla chips.....I'm sure you'll be able to come with some great ideas on your own.
Enjoy!

9 comments:

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Kalyn Denny said...

Looks great! This is just the kind of food I love!

Anonymous said...

Glad you liked, Kalyn! So often I don't realize recipes are Phase One and forget to tag it or send to you....and one of the nicest perks of making this is a week's worth of lunches, packed and ready to go.

Martha said...

Looks really good. Love beans in any form.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, I'm not sure which is prettier - the salad or the flowers - both are gorgeous. The salad looks very tasty - love beans!

Anonymous said...

I'm delighted you liked this, Martha! I'm coming around to beans - my lentil soup with kale and cumin is a winter favorite - and this salad. You just can't ignore the powerhouse of nutrition they have - and good for the budget, too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Barb! Those are my Valentine flowers from my daughter, so that makes them very special. Such a delight to have fresh, colorful flowers in the dead of winter!

And glad you enjoyed the salad ! Hope you're staying warm........

Anonymous said...

Tasty! I didn't have sundried tomatoes so I used oil cured olives. Nice twist. This recipe is a keeper!

katrina said...

Anon - love your idea of using olives instead of sun-dried tomatoes! Hmmm, maybe I'll do both next time - thanks and glad you liked!