We love to mix up this salad when our garden overflows with beans or we’ve received a big bag in our weekly delivery from the farm. We vary the ingredients depending on what else is ready for harvest—tomatoes of all sorts, perhaps a sweet bell pepper. A variety of fresh herbs are always nice—basil, dill, parsley or a combination—if you don’t have arugula. A teaspoon of perky Dijon mustard added to the dressing is wonderful too.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound string beans, ends snapped off
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic minced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- ½ bell pepper, cubed
- 2-3 cups pear or cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 1 cup canned cannellini or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 large handfuls arugula (or other fresh herbs), roughly chopped
Method:
- Bring a medium saucepan full of water to boil. Add the wax beans and simmer until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse in cool water. Cool to room temperature.
- Whisk together oil, vinegar and garlic, plus salt and pepper to taste.
- Put onion, pepper, tomato and olives into a bowl and toss with dressing to coat. Add cooled wax beans and toss again.
- Let marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- Add arugula (or fresh herbs) just before serving, and toss to coat. Add more dressing if needed and adjust salt and pepper to taste.