Julie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
Growing up, one of my family’s summer staples was a three-bean salad from the Uncommon Cookbook, published in 1981 by the Art Gallery of Windsor (Ontario). The amalgamation of soft, briny canned yellow and green wax beans, kidney beans and chickpeas tossed with a syrupy dressing of “salad oil,” white vinegar, sugar and celery seed lasted for ages in the fridge, and was delicious.
Bean-forward salads have always been popular in Mediterranean, Latin American and other cuisines; they became a simple, affordable use of pantry staples during the Depression, and trendy at potlucks and backyard parties of the fifties.
In a classic case of what’s old is new again, recipe developer Violet Witchel’s “dense bean salad” – a far more elaborate combination which included peppers, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, jarred artichokes and chopped deli meats – went viral on social media last year, inspiring a wave of bean-based variations.
The key ingredient, pulses, such as dry peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas, are a significant Canadian crop. They are a comparably inexpensive source of protein, and are high in fibre and other essential nutrients. Pulses are incredibly versatile, pairing well with a wide range of ingredients, and they’re delicious at room temperature, making them even more portable, and ideal to make ahead and bring to a barbecue, or pack for a picnic or camping trip.
Canned beans, chickpeas and lentils are absolutely fine for a salad, and tend to have a softer texture, but this is a great opportunity to simmer any dry varieties you have in the back of your cupboard. An instant pot does an amazing job of dried pulses, or you can simmer them on the stovetop, freezing any extra in their cooled cooking liquid to protect against freezer burn.
Lentils cook most quickly owing to their size, and don’t require soaking – no dried pulse does, really. There’s always the option to jump-start hydration by soaking them first, but cooking pulses straight from their dry state will require only marginally more time, and they won’t split as much.
Also: Salt your cooking water to season the beans themselves, as you would when cooking pasta – it’s a myth that salt makes them refuse to soften. If you do find they aren’t softening, add a pinch of baking soda to the cooking water – an acidic environment can be prohibitive, and soft water can be slightly acidic.
Just a Bean Salad
While fresh green beans make perfect sense in a bean salad, asparagus is in season now, and salads are all about using what you have and what happens to be growing. Barley is a delicious addition, and cooks in about the same time as dry lentils – you can even simmer them together. Feel free to add briny cheese (feta, bocconcini) or deli ingredients such as sliced meat, olives or artichokes, which feels like a more wintry salad.
As with any salad, ingredients are completely flexible in terms of variety and quantity – bean salads keep well in the fridge for several days, so you can make more than you need at one time.
- Any combination of cooked or canned (drained) pulses: chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, navy beans, pinto beans, lentils
- Something crunchy and juicy: chopped celery, cucumber, peppers and/or fennel
- Trimmed, blanched green beans and/or asparagus
- Leafy green herbs: parsley, cilantro, basil, oregano
- Fresh or sun-dried tomatoes
- Finely chopped shallot, purple onion, spring/green onions or chives
- Thinly sliced radishes
- Microgreens
Vinaigrette:
- Olive, canola or other vegetable oil
- Red or white wine vinegar (or any kind you like)
- A spoonful of grainy or Dijon mustard
- A small clove of garlic, finely crushed, if you like
- A big pinch of dried oregano or thyme, if you like
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Chop everything that needs chopping, and toss it all into a wide bowl, platter or any other vessel you happen to have.
To make a vinaigrette, pour oil and vinegar into a jar in approximately a 3:1 ratio, add a small spoonful of mustard and a bit of garlic and/or dried herbs, if you like, and season with salt and pepper.
Shake it up and pour generously over the salad ingredients, tossing to coat. Will keep in the fridge all week.
Serves as many as you like.
