Bean Salad

Well, this was supposed to be a garden bean salad, but thanks to the bad drought this year, beans are hard to find. So, I used canned beans instead. I was very happy with the results.

 You can pretty much use whatever beans you like or have on hand.

This salad is very much like my mom's bean salad, except that it uses red onion instead of white, and apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Both versions are great.

Makes: 6-8 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cans beans, rinsed and drained (green, wax, kidney, white, etc)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper

1. Place the onion in a bowl of water and soak for 10 minutes. Drain well.

2. In a small bowl,whisk together the vinegar, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Drizzle in the oil while still whisking.

3. Place the beans in a large bowl. Add in the onions and dressing. Mix well. Sprinkle with the parsley and season with salt and pepper.

4. Let set at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, before serving.

Kidney Bean Salad

Found a few cans of kidney beans in the pantry that needed to be used up, so I made this salad. Very easy to make, and great tasting.



Printable Recipe

You'll need:

• 3 16oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish, drained
• 1 pinch sugar
• S & P

1. Mix mayo, oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.

2. Add onions and stir well.

3. Add celery, beans and relish and stir.

4. Chill overnight.

Chicken-Apple Sausage Bites with Hot Sweet Mustard

These were almost hors d'oeuvres, but they still worked great for a main course.

I picked up some chicken-apple smoked sausage at the groceria.


I grilled them for about 8 minutes, to almost done.

Anita then took some puff pastry sheets and brushed them with egg. Cut the sausage into thirds and put a piece in the center of 3" x 3" squares of the pastry. Folded the edges in and brushed with some more of the egg wash.


Baked at 400° for about 12 minutes until they were brown.

For the dipping sauce, we mixed 1/2 cup spicy Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup whole grain mustard, and about 1/4 cup honey. On the side we had a spinach salad with thin-sliced red onion, toasted pecans, thin-sliced peaches and a light raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Everything was absolutely fantastic!


Next time we'll make a little less of the hot sweet mustard dippin' sauce. We had lots left over, but we'll use it up on hot dogs and brauts and whatever else we can find.

Chicken-Apple Sausage bites with Hot Sweet Mustard

Summer Fresh Spinach Salad

Mom's Bean Salad

We love this salad. Nothing fancy or complicated. Best after it sits overnight. This also goes well with BBQ, especially smoked ribs with a spicy sauce such as Texas Rib Ranger's Hot. The vinegar really offsets the heat from the sauce.

This recipe is from my mom.

1 pound frozen green beans, cooked per package instructions
1 can wax beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 - 1 cup sliced carrots, cooked
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup wine vinegar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Use a whisk to combine the vinegar, oil, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper into a dressing.

In a large bowl, combine the vegetables and then add the dressing.

Cool in fridge overnight, stirring often.

We made this a few days ago and had it tonight with spicy chili turkey dogs and a pickle slice.