Tangy Five Bean Salad

If you've been hanging out around the Eat'n Man blog much over the past nine years that it's been around (yes, almost nine years blogging, kids) then you've probably noticed we like chow of the rather decadent variety.  Butter, cheese, cream, lard and even tallow and duck fat had made appearances in our dishes, and they were oh so flavorful as a result, but every once in a while, we like to tone things down, or maybe just balance them out, with a nice salad.  And so, without further ado, our own little version of that ubiquitous picnic and pot luck piece-de-resistance, the five bean salad.

Why five beans?  Who knows.  I've seen recipes for bean salads with as few as two beans (I guess if they went down to one type of bean, it would just be a 'something else' salad with beans) and as many as fifteen types.  Fifteen different beans, sheesh!  That's just showing off.  Besides, who knew there were so many beans.  And that's a lot of bags or cans of beans to buy and open for a salad, unless you are making a really big ole' bowl full of beans.

Well, to be fair, the bean salads with ten, fifteen or more beans are usually made from a pre-purchased mix of beans, but hey, where's the fun in that.  No, the main reason to make a bean salad at all is so it will have a pretty and appealing mix of colors when you bring it to your office holiday party or a box social.  (what's a box social?  I have no idea, it just seemed like a funny thing to say)  No, for ultimate table-side appeal and good ole bean flavor, five is perhaps the prefect number.  And we've taken the guesswork out of selecting your bean varieties by choosing the most perfectly flavorful and color-coordinated beans we could find, tossing in a few other veggie friends for good measure.  Let's get started:


Ingredients

1 14 oz can Black Beans
1 14 oz can Red Beans
1 14 oz can Cannellini or Navy beans
1 14 oz can Cut Green Beans
1 14 oz can Wax Beans
1 can Golden Sweet Corn
1 Medium Red Onion
1 Medium Red Bell Pepper
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 Cup Champagne Vinegar
1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Handful Minced Cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste

So, as you can see, we're using canned goods here.  Nuttin' wrong with 'em, they are tasty, healthy and cheap, particularly if you purchase the store brands like we did here (except we threw in some Le Sueur brand corn to class up the affair) 

So, open up them beans and get 'em in a mixing bowl, like we have here.

Note the nice colorful contrast of the various beans we've selected.  Breathtaking.  In fact, all they need is a little red and purple, which we'll provide by....

Dicing our red onion and red bell pepper.

And adding that to the bowl along with the corn.

And give everything a little stir with a whisk.

Next, let's make the dressing.  First, add olive oil to a separate, smaller mixing bowl.  Make sure to use top notch Extra Virgin olive oil, as we want some of the olive flavor to come across.

Then add your Champagne vinegar.

If you've never used Champagne vinegar before, you're in for a treat.  It's has the most delicate flavor of any vinegar I've tasted, and I've started using it more and more these days.  If you must, you can sub Apple Cider vinegar.

Add the Dijon mustard.

Then the sugar.

Then finally the Italian Seasoning and cilantro.

Mix things up with a whisk until thoroughly combined.  Or if you want, use a blender.

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.  I usually end up with about a half teaspoon of salt and the same of pepper at this stage.  I'll add more as needed after I mix the salad.

So, add about half the dressing to the bean bowl and mix.  Taste and continue adding dressing until you've reached the flavor you like.  You'll likely add it all.  Adjust salt and pepper again and then cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill the salad in the fridge for an hour or two so the flavors will meld.

Stir one more time before you serve and that's it.

Until next time,


Chris