Happy Wednesday!
I wracked my brain trying to figure out what side dish to bring to a family BBQ. I wasn’t sure what everyone (or most people) would like. Thankfully there is no shortage of options when my family gets together. There’s enough food to feed an army, so even if no one wants what I made, it’s not the end of the world. Is that a Greek thing to make absolutely sure there is way, way too much food available?
Anyway, this bean salad is inspired by the cowboy caviar that I made a few years ago. I skipped the celery and used less onions to make it more kid friendly. I don’t know how many of the kids tried it, but I saw my 7 year old godson gobble some down so I’m going to go with “yup, it’s definitely adult AND kid friendly.” I also reduced the sugar in the dressing at my husband’s request because he said that the cowboy caviar is too sweet. You don’t notice that I cut half of the sugar from the original recipe. Half! That means I’ve just saved some calories so I can splurge at dessert time. 😉 Lastly, I added twice as many beans to really get the point across (my husband just read this and made a fart joke, don’t ask) that this is a salad full of beans. Yup, lots o’ beans going on here. All in all, it was a hit with my family.
This recipe makes a huge batch so there was a lot leftover. I left them with my sister, but I would serve this over rice to use the leftovers for lunches. I try to get creative with using leftovers so that it doesn’t seem like I’m eating the same exact thing. 🙂
Bean Salad Recipe
(Makes… a lot)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 can (15.5 ounce can) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15.5 ounce can) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15.5 ounce can) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15.5 ounce can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup oil
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
- In a large bowl, add the chopped onion, red bell pepper, and beans. Set it aside.
- In a medium saucepan, over Medium heat, add the oil, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and bring it to a boil.
- Remove the liquid from the heat and pour it into the bowl of vegetables and beans.
- Gently mix everything together and let it cool prior to serving.
Inspired by: Cowboy caviar, which was from an article from an unknown magazine.
Awesome! Simple and healthy recipe from veggies. Worth trying at home. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!!!
Bean salad? I gotta say that’s a new one for me! I’m really curious to try it, tho.