tuscan bean salad with sun dried tomatoes

Steamy, hot weather calls for chilled salads, and I've been eating this delightful Italian salad, along with French potato salad with dill, all week.  Still no rain, but the heat wave is supposed to break tomorrow - none too soon for me!  Hope everyone is managing to swim through this humidity.

This recipe makes quite a lot of salad -  probably around 10 cups.  It's terrific for packing for lunches, or having around instead of chips.  It's also super healthy - fiber, protein, all that good stuff.  And it's not expensive to make, either.  

To make:

2 cups small white beans, dried

4 bay leaves

1 peeled onion, whole

1 t. oregano

Place beans, onion, bay leaves, and oregano in a large pot.  Cover with water about 6 inches above the beans, bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer and cover.  Cook until beans are just soft - about an hour.  Check to see if you need to add water, too - after about a half hour.  Drain and remove bay leaves and onion.

Place in a large bowl and add:

1 T. fresh lemon juice

4 T. or more red wine vinegar

4 T. or more olive oil

4 cloves pressed garlic

3/4 cup scallions, sliced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

salt and freshly cracked pepper

1 t. basil, dry, or 2 T. fresh, sliced

1. t, oregano

1/2 t. thyme

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved, or diced tomatoes, or 6 or 7 sun dried tomatoes, snipped into slivers with scissors

Toss gently and taste, taste, taste.  Taste right away, then taste again a half hour later, since the warm beans will absorb the dressing.  Most often it needs a little more oil or salt.

Eat as is, or stuff into peppers, tortillas, wraps, omelets, pasta.  It's also great with tortilla chips ( hold the sour cream!)...by the way, this is great if you're on the South Beach diet, even for Phase 1!