Bean there, done that....
We didn't eat bean salad when I was a kid. It was just one of those things, like potato salad, that other families ate at picnics or parties that we just never had.
Maybe it was too ethnic. (From our perspective, where lasagna, tapas and empanadas were every day food, potato salad and bean salads were foreign and odd.) Or, maybe my grandmother didn't like them so she didn't make them.
As an adult, I discovered I liked these exotic foods. So, I have a more varied culinary palette than that from which I could chose as a kid. I hope that my kids don't really think of anything as "ethnic" food, because they grew up eating a little of this and a little of that from all over the world.
In an effort to learn how to make these exotic dishes, I did a lot of research and some experimentation. For the bean salads, three beans weren't enough. I added extra beans and some other vegetables. I wprked the marinade a little differently and came up with my own recipe using fresh and canned ingredients.
Five Bean and Corn Salad
1 pound of green beans, cooked1 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can of black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 ounce can of corn, rinsed and drained
1 onion, sliced thin
2 ribs of celery, sliced thin
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
5 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- In a non-metalic bowl (glass is best), mix first three ingredients, then layer in the onion and celery.
- Mix the garlic, the sugar and the vinegar together and pour over salad.
- Refrigerate overnight or longer.
