Rosie Makes A Four-Bean Salad.

I love multi-bean salads.

Don't you?

They're pretty.

They're colorful.

They're textural.

And they taste real good. 

Today, I'm making a four-bean salad

with green beans, garbanzo beans,

great northern beans, and red kidney beans.

Remember, Rosie doesn't do canned beans.

Only cooked dried beans will do for me and my Hawthornes.

 

 I started off with dried beans -

a handful each of garbanzo, kidney, and great northern.

Garbanzos take longer than the kidney and great northern,

so I started them first in a pot of water.

Don't worry.

You don't need to soak the beans overnight.

I simply rinse the beans off and

put them in a pot of water.

Bring to a boil and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Add kidney beans and great northern beans,

bring back to a boil, and simmer another 30 minutes.

Rinse beans off and refresh water.

Bring back to a boil, then simmer until beans are al dente,

about 20-30 minutes.

Rinse and drain.

 For the green beans,

drop in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes for al dente.

Drain in a colander then plunge beans 

into an ice water bath to stop the cooking and set the color.

If you happen to have some multi-colored sweet bell peppers,

dice and add to the salad.

I never ate green beans growing up.

The beans Mama Hawthorne cooked

did not resemble green beans when she was done with them.

Like many southern cooks of her generation,

she cooked the crap out of her beans.
And these were beans just picked from the garden!

Please don't do that.

Remember - bright green and al dente.

Not olive-drab and limp.

 Next I added in crumbled feta cheese and toasted almond slices.

 Finally, toss with dressing to coat.

Dressing

In a small sauce pan, 

combine 1 cup cider vinegar,

2TB balsamic vinegar

1 TB Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce

2/3 cup sugar,

1 garlic clove, minced,

1/2 tsp kosher salt,

and 1 tsp freshly ground pepper.

Bring to a boil, stirring, to dissolve sugar.

Let cool a bit,

then whisk in 3/4 cup canola oil at a slow drizzle.

Pour over bean mixture, cover, 

and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Enjoy!