A Meaningful Beaning-Ful Bean Salad

1/2 lb string beans, cut in half
1 15oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbs dry oregano
1/2 large red onion, sliced
1/2 lb oil cured Greek olives
1 celery stalk, diced
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1) Cook string beans in boiling salted water until fork tender (then put in ice bath), drain until dry.
2) In a large pasta bowl add string beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, garlic, oregano, onion, olives, celery, basil, parsley. Add salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Mix well.
3) Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, toss with salad until combined. Let sit for 1/2 an hour, mixing every 10 minutes to get all ingredients coated with mixture.
4) Chill for at least 1 hour and serve, salad can be made 1 day ahead of time.

Review: Well, oil cured olives are not sold at my grocery store. I recently saw a jar at TJ Maxx, but even on clearance it was $4.50 for the jar. And it was as many olives as a normal can of black olives. I don’t think I’m that gourmand, to pay that much for olives! So, I substituted a jar of whole black olives. This didn’t make much food. I was expecting more, but it ended up being about 3 servings. It was pretty tasty, and quite filling. I’ll definitely make it again.

** I think I have a plan for the summer. I believe I’m going to develop a summer menu. I’m going to try to find lots of different salads that are similar to this. That way, I can come home from work and have a cold salad while it’s still hot out. Then, once the temps cool down in the evening, I’ll make a salad to refrigerate overnight. It’ll be a continuous cycle, but I think it may work. We’ll see.