WHB: Shell Bean Salad
As soon as I saw a picture of this shell bean salad in Martha Stewart Living, I knew I would make it soon. I love beans and there are so many possibilities with this recipe. I wanted to use green and wax beans, but couldn't find the latter. So, I just used fresh picked green beans. I recently found adorable little dried flageolets and coco beans at my grocery store. So, I used them, along with chickpeas, and edamame. Any type of bean could be used for this. The more the merrier.
The dressing contains my favorite herb, cilantro, and Italian parsely. Year round, they are the herbs that you will find in my fridge. It's a crisis if I run out of them. I usually spotlight cilantro, but I'm submitting this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging with parsley as the starring herb. Whether you prefer curly or flat leaf parsley is up to you. I prefer flat leaf, but we used the curly variety in my family until fairly recently. The parsley and cilantro give the salad a wonderful fresh flavor, but they don't overpower the beans. And, if you don't like cilantro, just add a little more parsley.
This week WHB has come home to it's mother, the delightful Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen. Kalyn started this terrific event and you will find amazing herby recipes in her Roundup on Monday. What would we do without WHB? It would be like life without parsley!
I spotted these beautiful cherry tomatoes at David Berkely in Sacramento. There were six different types in the basket. You can have diamonds and pearls--I'll take these beauties.
I knew I would love this recipe, so I doubled it.
Tossed and ready to serve.
Shell Bean Salad
(Martha Stewart Living)
The dressing
(Note: The original recipe contained jalapenos and chopped bell pepper, but I wasn't in the mood for that. But, it would be a nice addition, I think. Maybe another day.)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped flat leafed parsley
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salad
(Use beans of your choice, the more the better. Fresh is best, but good quality canned, frozen and dried beans can be used. This is what I used.)
About 1/4 cup dried flageolets (green kidney beans)
About 1/4 cup dried white coco beans
About 2 cups of green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces
8 ounces canned chickpeas, (about 1 1/4 cups) rinsed
8 ounces shelled edamame (about 1 1/4 cups)
Around 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
salt and pepper to taste
ice water bath
Make dressing by whisking together the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper, then whisk in the oil. Add the herbs and adjust the seasoning.
Make the salad. Soak the dried beans overnight and cook the next day in water that covers them very generously until soft, but not soggy. When they just soft, bring them to a boil and add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the edamame to the water, and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and transfer the beans to a ice water bath. When the beans have cooled, drain and pat dry.
Toss the beans, chickpeas, and dressing together and season with salt and lots of black pepper.
Beautiful salad! I love the little green zebra cherry tomatoes, too -- not sure I've ever seen those before.
Posted by: Lydia | September 01, 2007 at 05:49 PM
summer in a bowl. just beautiful... i mean really.
Posted by: claudia | September 01, 2007 at 06:14 PM
The salad is just gorgeous. I love the look of those little cherry tomatoes with all the different kinds too. In fact, everything about this salad looks good to me!
Posted by: Kalyn | September 01, 2007 at 06:14 PM
Vivid, absolute vivid goodness.
That looks stunning!
Posted by: Tanna | September 01, 2007 at 07:31 PM
Oh this is so beautiful! I love everything in this tasty salad!
Posted by: Anh | September 01, 2007 at 10:11 PM
Wow! That looks delicious!
Posted by: Kate | September 02, 2007 at 05:41 AM
Gorgeous!!! It looks so bright and fresh I feel healthier just looking at the pic.
Posted by: Glenna | September 02, 2007 at 06:10 AM
Hey I just made a riff on this with wax beans and corn in addition and minus the edamame/chickpea/flageolets...Delish!
Posted by: Callipygia | September 02, 2007 at 11:35 AM
Beautiful salad! I love beans in any and all forms and those tomatoes are, indeed, little pearls. If you have any left let me know, I'll send my address... I think DSL could get here overnight...
Posted by: Katiez | September 02, 2007 at 01:02 PM
I don't do beans.
However, my mouth is watering..
Perhaps Sher has her magics' working...
Posted by: albert | September 02, 2007 at 01:39 PM
Simply stunning! Such vibrant colours. Sounds delicious too!
Posted by: Truffle | September 03, 2007 at 07:31 AM
Simply stunning! Such vibrant colours. Sounds delicious too!
Posted by: Truffle | September 03, 2007 at 07:40 AM
So colorful and beautiful! I love that.
Posted by: Lisa | September 03, 2007 at 02:30 PM
Wow, this looks gorgeous.
Posted by: Ferdzy | September 03, 2007 at 03:08 PM
I love your salad, Sher - tomatoes are such a favorite of mine!
And that dressing seems to work with other salads, too.
Posted by: Patricia Scarpin | September 04, 2007 at 07:19 AM
That looks fabulous!
Posted by: TBC | September 04, 2007 at 10:05 AM
That looks perfect! It is a good way to introduce some veggies... I'll be giving it a try.
Posted by: Sandi @ the whistlestop cafe | September 04, 2007 at 02:56 PM
mmmm sher that looks delicious! that carton of tomatos alone, ooh lala!
Posted by: aria | September 05, 2007 at 06:11 AM
Oh my goodness...just look at that variety of tomatoes! They are so cute. Sher, you defintely win the award for the most beautiful, colorful salads ever. :-)
Posted by: Belinda | September 05, 2007 at 07:38 AM
Love the looks of that salad!
Posted by: Toni | September 05, 2007 at 02:59 PM
That is thoroughly beautiful. And of course it looks delicious! Fantastic.
Posted by: anne | September 05, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Oh, pretty, pretty! I love the addition of edamame, which I have a surplus of right now!
Posted by: Susan from Food Blogga | September 07, 2007 at 04:03 PM