Marinated
Bean Salad
from
anncanada
This
marinated bean salad is another old family recipe and it always gets
compliments. I have tried many of them and have never tasted one like it. I have
been asked for this recipe time and time again (especially when I've taken it to
a party or event). I hope the onion and bean lovers will enjoy it.
The
Marinade
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup salad oil (I used the bottled Crisco oil)
Liquid from the red kidney beans (see the salad ingredient list)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Combine the sugar and apple cider vinegar in a small to medium pot and bring to
a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn the heat right down to simmer (all
you want to do is get it to the point where the sugar is completely dissolved in
the apple cider vinegar). Add the salad oil and the juice from the red kidney
beans. Add the salt, pepper, basil, tarragon, and dry mustard and mix well. Turn
the heat off and allow marinade to cool (it can be warm, but it shouldn't be
blazing hot when you add it to the salad mixture).
The salad
mixture
1 10-oz. can cut green beans
1 10-oz. can cut yellow beans
1 14-oz can of red kidney beans
2 cups of chopped celery (I chop these by hand so that they have a consistent
size...small and bite-size)
1 chopped sweet green pepper
1 cooking onion (I usually chop this fairly fine in a food processor, but not so
fine that it becomes slushy).
Put all of the vegetable ingredients in a large bowl, pour all of the marinade
over this mixture, and allow to stand in the fridge overnight, if possible, but
at least two-three hours if you're doing it the same day you are serving it.
A couple
of notes:
1. Never
leave out the chopped onion...it adds tremendously to the flavour and isn't the
same without it.
2. You can also add a small can of lima beans to the vegetable mixture if you
choose. I detest lima beans, so I never use them.
3. Any leftover marinated salad can be stored in the fridge for at least three
days. It is just as delicious as it is the first day. What I do is add more
chopped celery to the mixture to keep that nice crunchy texture and it makes for
more salad. You can never add enough celery in my opinion.
