On Jul 2, 9:44?am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
> I know. Three bean salad is old news to everyone. I have never
> made it because it doesn't particularly appeal to me. But, we went
> to my brother's place yesterday and his wife made some and it was
> very good. It wasn't actually 3 bean ... more like 5 bean.
>
> How she described the recipe, it looked a lot like this one, except
> she didn't mention sugar. It sure didn't need it, and she cooks pretty
> healthfully so I doubt it was in there. Just curious if this is a typical
> recipe and what's up with the sugar:
>
> http://www.elise.com/recipes/archive...bean_salad.php
>
> 3-bean salad is one of those quintessential American summer picnic foods.
> It's usually
>
> made with canned green beans instead of the cannellini white beans I'm using
> here. But
>
> I really don't care for canned green beans, so cannellini it is. Also of
> note is that
>
> three bean salad traditionally has a dressing comprised of vinegar, oil and
> sugar.
>
> The sugar is important. I tried making this salad without out sugar and it
> just didn't work.
>
> 1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
> 1 15-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
> 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
> 2 celery stalks, chopped fine
> 1/2 red onion, chopped fine
> 1 cup fresh, finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
> 1 Tbsp fresh finely chopped rosemary
>
> 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
> 1/3 cup granulated sugar
> 1/4 cup olive oil
> 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
> 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
>
> 1 In a large bowl, mix the beans, celery, onion, parsley and rosemary.
>
> 2 In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil,
> salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the beans. Toss to coat.
>
> 3 Chill beans in the refrigerator for several hours, to allow the beans to
> soak up the flavor of the dressing.
>
> Serves 4 to 8.

That dressing does seem excessively sweet, and sour... in fact it's
pretty disgusting.. A bean salad can have any kind of salad
dressing... I typically make up a vinaigrette and add fresh lemon
juice. If you don't like canned green beans (they are kind of mushy)
use frozen green beans, frozen niblets are nice too, so are frozen
baby limas. I like to use the *dark* red kidney beans... use as many
types of canned beans as you desire, I use whatever I have on hand,
might be 5-6 kind. I add onion and celery too, but not so much as
that recipe. I also like to add diced cukes and sliced okra when I
have them, and minced curly leaf parsley. There are really no rules,
so long as the predominent ingredient is beans. You can also blend
the bean salad with pasta. Add some bacon too. There is no end to
possibilities...

Sheldon