White bean and olive salad with fresh herbs
White beans are a cheap, versatile ingredient for the beginners out there.
A quick, tasty and filling salad for the summer.
Beyond the Peel
I put on a batch of beans recently on a stormy night (sounds scary, right?). I made a triple batch so that I could freeze the extra portions. Having them on hand is a huge time saver and it doesn鈥檛 take any more time to cook two cups as it does to聽.
You can always use white beans in a jar or even canned beans, if you鈥檙e just聽聽with whole foods and are working your way up to making them yourself. If you鈥檙e interested in learning how, here鈥檚 an聽聽on how to make them at home for pennies in comparison to the precooked ones.
The first time I served this salad it was on a bed of thinly sliced zucchini (I used a carrot peeler, but for more than 1 person a聽聽would be faster) drizzled in olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and聽. Today I enjoyed it on a bed of freshly picked spinach from the garden toasted in a Tuscan Herbed Olive Oil and Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic (thanks Tina for the lovely present). Or try it on sliced tomatoes or with steamed聽. And if you鈥檙e into bread, it would make an exceptional topping of toasted sourdough as an appetizer鈥�
White bean聽and olive salad with fresh herbs
Serves 2-3 (depending on size of appetite) Double as required.
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans, navy or cannellini beans
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Salt and pepper to taste
Put all the ingredients in a medium sized聽bowl. Mix to combine. Season with any additional salt and pepper to taste.
Optional Additions:
1 tablespoon lemon juice, tomatoes, red peppers, zucchini, spinach or聽.
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