Three Bean Salad With Blackberry Balsamic Dressing

February 4, 2012

My roommate works late hours. The kind of hours that result in not cooking anything for days on end. And I use the term “cooking” loosely here. Microwaving would completely qualify in this instance.

One night lives on in infamy in Apartment 20: The Night of The Bean Sandwich.

As in, she slapped some canned beans on some bread and called it a meal. There may have been some lettuce or other vegetation involved, but that does not make it any less upsetting.

Bean sandwich, not OK. Bean salad, totally fine. And this bean salad? It’s amazing. Ironically, I adapted my roommate’s recipe.

Celery, broccoli, and red onion for crunch. Garbanzo, kidney, and black beans for earthiness. Blackberry-infused balsamic vinegar for extreme deliciousness.

Whoever declared beets to be nature’s candy was wrong. This salad is nature’s candy, or would be if it occurred in nature.

Serve it over quinoa, mix it into a salad, spoon it straight into your mouth, or toss it onto a slice of toast for an upscale bean sandwich. You can’t lose.

THREE BEAN SALAD WITH BLACKBERRY BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Makes an obscene amount of bean salad, 6+ cups

• 2 cups black beans
• 2 cups garbonzo beans
• 2 cups red kidney beans
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 small red onion
• 2-3 heads brocoli, florets only
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2/3 cup blackberry infused balsamic vingar, or regular balsamic vinegar with sugar to taste
• salt & pepper to taste
• raw almonds for garnish

Chop brocoli into florets and blanch in boiling water, set aside to cool. Dice onions and celery, combine with cooled brocoli and beans in a large bowl

Whisk oil and vinegar in a small bowl, pour dressing over the salad and mix well.

Before serving, garnish with raw almonds.

Written by L Posted in recipes Tagged with beans, gluten-free, salad, savory, vegan