bean salad

This summer I've been eating a lot of variations on the classic three-bean salad. I make a one-bean (green beans), two-bean (green beans and cannellini beans), three-bean (green, cannellini, garbanzo), four bean (green, cannellini, garbanzo, and kidneys). Basically, a bean salad can have whatever bean you want in just about any variation you prefer.

I like to cook my own beans because it's cheaper and tastes better, but if you used canned beans, just rinse them of all the goopy stuff you find in a can. When I cook my own beans I soak them overnight, and then in the morning I cook them while I'm getting ready, and them let them soak in the cooking water until I get home that evening when I finish off the cooking.

To make a bean salad really tasty, you just need to add a few extras. Here are some suggestions-- you can add any variation of these ingredients:
chopped tomatoes
garlic
olives
red onion, finely chopped
shaved parmesan
chopped salami
sauteed fennel bulb

I like to have a slightly sweet dressing on my beans:
equal measure of olive oil and vinegar (rice or apple cider)
a dollop of dijon mustard
a measure of brown sugar or honey
salt
pepper

Let the beans marinate as long as possible before you eat, but if you can't wait to eat I don't blame you. If you want to pump up this salad even more, serve it on quinoa or israeli couscous.