Old-Fashioned Too-Many-Beans-To-Count Bean Salad from Guest Victoria Hamilton

We here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen owe guest Victoria Hamilton a special thank-you for giving us all a cool dish for this blazing hot week!

By: Victoria Hamilton, Author of Muffin But Trouble, Merry Muffin Mystery #6.

When I was a kid there were quite a few things I would not eat; canned peas, onions, anything with onions in it, stewed tomatoes and… onions. I really hated onions. Mom tried EVERYTHING to get me to eat them, including grinding them up to add to meat pies, and giving me my very own onion chopper for me to use, (which I still have and treasure!) thinking I would eat onions if I had a hand in preparing then. I chopped them, but still would not eat them. I sat at the table long after dinner a LOT.

Another of those adult dishes that I could not comprehend was the dreadedly ubiquitous summer picnic dish … Bean Salad. I mean… beans. As a salad. It didn’t make sense. In the '60s we didn’t eat salad unless it was encased in gelatin.

So… I hated it. And now… I love it. Can’t get enough of it. I’ll eat it as a snack. Here, for your delectation, is my Old Fashioned Too-Many-Beans-To-Count Salad. I make it several times over the summer.

Old Fashioned Bean Salad

Ingredients:

Cans of beans: Green, Wax (Yellow), (10 ounce cans) a Bean Mix and Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) as well as, if you like, Cannellini, or White Kidney Beans. Your choice, but limit it to four small/medium cans of beans total for the amount of dressing this makes. I happen to like Chickpeas, but if you don’t, just use another can of mixed beans.

Sweet Onion like a Vidalia, Spanish or Bermuda: half cup, chopped to your own taste… I like mine finely diced.

Red (or orange, green, yellow) Pepper: half cup, chopped, again, to your taste. I like a fine dice, but you may prefer big happy chunks of pepper!

1/2 cup Celery, chopped.

Scant palm full of Parsley and Basil, chopped. Omit if you’re not fond of herbs.

1/2 cup any clearish light-flavored oil; canola is my choice.

1/2 cup white vinegar: plain, white wine, or apple cider; your taste, your choice. Use plain white vinegar if you’re not sure. I used a blend of white wine vinegar and plain white, because though I love the flavor of white wine vinegar, it has a very specific fruity flavor.

1/2 to 3/4 cup white sugar; I do something in between because 3/4 cup is too much, to me, though most of the recipes I’ve seen call for it.

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt or regular salt

Method:

Combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside.

Drain all the beans. I like to chop the green and yellow beans to smaller sizes consistent with the chickpeas, etc.

Dice the onion, celery and peppers and mix completely in a large bowl with the beans.

Cover with the dressing and mix well. Store it in the fridge in a large container. Let it marinate at least 24 hours before trying it. If you taste it too soon you will think it bland; it will be better than it tastes at first… TRUST me! If you think there is too little dressing, you can always make another batch and pour it over. If you don’t, and the dressing doesn’t cover the beans, mix the salad up every day so the beans soak in the flavor.

Then… enjoy! A welcome addition to a barbecue, and you can make it ahead. In fact, it will stay good in your fridge for at least three weeks, a good and good-for-you accompaniment for cold summer meals.

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Giveaway: I am giving away one paperback copy of Muffin But Trouble, Book #6 of the newly revived Merry Muffin Mystery series! AND… a cute skull teaspoon to stir your favorite poison! Just leave a message below.

Canadian and US entries welcome.

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About Muffin But Trouble:

In the new Merry Muffin Mystery from the author of Muffin to Fear, baker Merry Wynter must confront a spiritual guru who may be up to something far from heavenly . . .

   With plans for a new performing arts center at Wynter Castle taking up all her time, baker Merry Wynter has been all but unaware of the fringe group compound near her small town— until a street preacher accosts her with taunts of doom and damnation.

   Worried that some of her close friends may have been lured in by the group and its charismatic leader, Merry begins digging into the ministry—and soon suspects they may have ties to the recent death of a young woman and the disappearance of many others.

   With her rebellious teen friend Lizzie at her side, Merry steps in to confront the eerily submissive community and its misguided members, skeptical of their supposed spiritual leanings. When another young woman vanishes and Merry realizes the lives of people close to her are at stake, she will stop at nothing to uncover the group’s sinister secrets before the murderous ministry can strike again . . .

Meet the Author: