Summertime Bean Salads

Cooking How-To, Cooking Show, How-To, In Season, Summer
on July 8, 2011
Kidney Bean Salad
Mark Boughton/Styling: Teresa Blackburn
https://easykitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/kidney_bean_salad-150x150.jpg

Think beans are just for cold weather? Think again. In a crispy cool bean salad, beans are lighter and brighter yet still as filling as ever. This potluck and barbecue side-dish favorite can be prepared in countless ways and is absolutely swoon-worthy when filled to the brim with crunchy farm fresh veggies and protein-packed beans. So pick your bean base from one of the five choices below, and then whip up the recipe that follows:

  • Kidney: For a side dish, try our Warm Kidney Bean Salad. For a meatier main dish, mix these richly shaded beans with barley, fresh green peppers and a can of tuna and then top with an olive oil and lemon dressing.
  • Black: For a Tex-Mex style salad, simply mix beans with corn, tomatoes, green onions and fresh cilantro and, then top it all off with a sprinkling of lime juice.
  • Green: Crisp and garden fresh, green beans will give your salad all the crunch you need. So toss them with juicy cherry tomatoes, soft feta cheese and grilled corn. Add a lemon-mint vinaigrette to really bring out the flavors.
  • Pinto: Make a spicy salad by mixing pinto beans with cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers, onions, celery and fresh parsley. Toss in an herbed vinaigrette and add a splash of Tabasco for extra flavor.
  • Garbanzo: A highly versatile bean, garbanzos are great mixed in couscous with roasted bell peppers, red onions, cucumbers, currents and feta cheese. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top and toss in a honey-Dijon dressing to finish.

—By Emily Arno