Two Bean Herb Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk together the oil, vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the beans, parsley, celery, scallions and red onions and stir until well combined. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, 10-15 minutes or until tender, adding green beans during the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain; cool completely., In a small bowl, mix dressing ingredients. Pour over potato mixture; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, until cold.

Steps:

• Combine the beans and their soaking water with the two crushed garlic cloves, the halved yellow onion and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer one hour. Add salt to taste, and continue to simmer until tender but intact, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard the onion halves, garlic cloves and bay leaf, and carefully drain the beans through a colander or strainer set over a bowl.
• Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half across the equator. Set a strainer over a bowl, and squeeze out the seeds from the tomatoes into the strainer. Rub the gelatinous seed sacs against the strainer to extract the juice, and discard the seeds. Grate the tomatoes against the large holes of a box grater set in a wide bowl, and discard the skins. Add the juice from the strained seeds to the grated tomatoes, and stir together.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, heavy casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until very soft but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic, and continue to cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the sugar, half the tomatoes and half the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring often, until the mixture has cooked down to a fragrant sauce, about 15 minutes. Stir in the beans, 1/2 cup of broth and the remaining tomatoes. Cover and simmer for another 25 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining herbs and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and allow to cool. Stir in the lemon juice if desired, and serve with lemon wedges. If the beans seem dry, add more of the bean broth to taste.

Steps:

• Soak onion in cold water, 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk Dijon and vinegar in a bowl. Slowly whisk in oil until combined. Drain onion and dry well. Stir into dressing along with beans and herbs; season with salt and pepper. Let sit 15 to 20 minutes or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days. Serve as a side, over meat and fish, on toasted rustic bread, or mixed into greens.

Steps:

• Use metal tongs to hold the onion over hot coals or char in a hot griddle pan until just blackened all over. Leave to cool completely, then peel away the outer blackened layer and finely chop the rest of the onion. You can also simply finely chop the onion without charring it first, if you prefer.
• Cook the beans in a pan of boiling salted water for 4-5 mins until just cooked, with a slight snap. Drain and tip into a bowl with the onion, cannellini beans, olive oil and lemon juice. Season well, toss everything together and set aside until needed. This can be prepared several hours ahead and chilled. Stir in the herbs just before serving.

Steps:

• In a large salad bowl, combine the rice, beans, peas, celery, onion, chilies and parsley or cilantro; mix well. Combine the remaining ingredients in a jar with tight-fitting lid; shake well. Pour over rice mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.