Three Bean Salad
A Simple Crowd-Pleaser
Three Bean Salad | Dara O’Brien
By Dara O’Brien
Creative Director, Lake Isle Press
It began some years ago with a Three Bean Salad made by my friend, Paula. I was such a picky eater as a kid, I had never eaten anything like it. But I wanted to improve my palate, so I tried it and loved it. I asked Paula for her recipe, and I scribbled it down on a slip of paper.
I slowly acquired more recipes in much the same way. Most, if not all, were for a special occasion “company” dishes, because I didn’t cook much for myself, and when I did the food I made was pretty simple.
Then I got a job in the marketing department of a food magazine, and you might say recipes became my bread and butter. Celebrating all aspects of cooking—new cuisines, ingredients, techniques, and flavor combinations—wasn’t merely part of my job, though. It became both a passion and a pleasure. I began collecting recipes like Swifties collect friendship bracelets.
As a result I’ve amassed hundreds, no, thousands of recipes—ripped from print newspapers and magazines (you remember them) and stored in a binders; downloaded and stashed in virtual folders; tucked away in online recipe boxes; and announcing themselves with gusto from the recesses of my untamed cookbook collection. So much to cook, so little time.
I’m not sure I still have that first recipe for Paula’s Three Bean Salad, but I remember that, like the one below from “Rachael Ray’s Thirty-Minute Meals 2,” it listed sugar as one of its ingredients. Since this was before I learned anything about cooking, I was confused. Sugar is for desserts, right? In this recipe, which was a breeze to make and really tasty, Rachael Ray suggests 2 tablespoons of sugar. I used just a ½ tablespoon and the dressing was light and flavorful without being sweet.
I’ve explored enough recipes that I’ve come to understand how different ingredients can interact. Lemons and limes add brightness without making a dish citrusy; anchovies add umami but not a fishy taste, add pasta water to a sauce for extra creaminess without extra dairy. I’ve come to learn how even a pinch of sugar can add depth and intensify the flavor of savory dishes without announcing itself.
I have also learned that when you taste a dish you really like, get the recipe if you can. When I was just out of college, I visited my Great Aunt Eileen in Ireland. She served homemade bread every morning at breakfast and I loved it. I remember it as rather yellow so maybe it had a cornmeal base; it didn’t have any raisins or currants so it wasn’t a traditional soda bread.
This trip happened long before I tried Paula’s Three Bean Salad or worked for a food magazine, so it never occurred to me to get Aunt Eileen’s bread recipe. She passed away just a few weeks after I met her for the first and last time. Her recipe went with her.
3 BEAN SALAD
Click here for printable recipe.
INGREDIENTS
½ pound fresh green beans, cut into thirds
2 rounded teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup red wine vinegar (eyeball the amount)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (eyeball the amount)
1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans, drained
1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans, drained
¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Makes 6 Servings
PREPARATION
Steam green beans for five minutes, remove and cold shock under running water, drain well and set aside.
In a serving bowl, combine mustard, sugar and vinegar. Whisk in oil. Add kidney beans, garbanzo beans, steamed green beans and parsley and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Recipe from “Rachael Ray’s 30-Minute Meals 2” by Rachael Ray, Lake Isle Press, 2003
3 BEAN SALAD
from “Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2” by Rachael Ray, Lake Isle Press, 2003
Rachael pulls out all the stops in this best-selling collection of recipes. You’ll find menus complete with mains, sides, and desserts, tailored for any occasion. Sections include: Make Your Own Take-Out, Monday Thru Friday Dinner Specials, Family-Style Suppers, Double-Duty Dinners, Passport Meals, Big Nights: Very Special Dinners, and Healthy Hunger Busters. Eating Healthy? Try a meat-free meal featuring Ravioli Vegetable Lasagna, Romaine Hearts with Lemon Chive Vinaigrette, and Fresh Oranges with Lime Sorbet. Have hard-to-please kids? We promise you they’ll eat Meatball and Macaroni Soup, Grilled 4-Cheese Sandwiches and Chocolate-Dipped Bananas. Over 1.5 million sold!
Also from Rachael Ray:
Chicken and Grapes with Creamy Mustard Sauce and Couscous
Green Minestrone
Lemon Rice Pilaf
Pasta Carbonara
Pasta With Citrus Cream Sauce
Too-Easy Chicken With Leeks