Mountain Bean Salad

Sunday, September 7, 2008

This very simple salad was born out of a desperate need to use up a TON of Romano beans we had in our fridge. The past couple weeks we have received two bags worth from The Farm and they were on the cusp of going bad.



I was inspired to shred the beans after seeing a different recipe using that technique. From there, I scrounged through my pantry and came up with the rest of it. I used my food processor to cut the beans, but you could also chop them on a diagonal by hand.



The salad got its name because it looks like, well, a mountain. It is meant to be eaten at room temp, but it would be good warm or cold as well.




Mountain Bean Salad
serves 3-4

1-2 lbs. Romano beans, or any type of green bean, shredded
1 can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained
3 scallions, chopped
freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano
drizzle olive oil
3-4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp water and the Romano beans. Add salt & pepper to taste and cook 4-8 minutes, until slightly cooked but still pretty crisp. Stir occasionally. If the beans are taking a while to cook, cover with a lid and let steam for a few minutes.

Mix kidney & garbanzo beans. Divide the mixture between individual plates. Pile the cooked Romano beans on top and drizzle with a small amount of balsamic vinegar. Add the scallions and fresh Paremesan Reggiano.

Your plate should look like this at the end: