Marinated 3 Bean Salad

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Ingredients
  • 3 cups fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped (or sub 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • Fine sea salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1 medium red onion, minced
  • 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (buy in a block for more flavor and crumble yourself, when possible) or use goat cheese.
Instructions
  1. Blanch the green beans:
  2. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil set up an ice bath for the green beans right next to the pot of water. Fill a large mixing bowl with a few handfuls of ice and cold water. This shocks the green beans so they don’t overcook.
  3. Once the water has come to a boil add the already trimmed and chopped green beans. Allow the green beans to sit in the very hot water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. You will notice that the green beans turn a bright green; this is a sign that they are done. You don’t want to cook the green beans for very long. You just want to take the raw edge off of them; they should still be very crunchy.
  4. Use a slotted spoon to remove the green beans from the pot of hot water and into the prepared ice bath. Allow them to hang out while you prepare the other ingredients.
  5. Make the red wine vinaigrette:
  6. You can make this while you are waiting for the pot of water to come to a boil.
  7. To a large mixing bowl add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, thyme, garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined and taste. Adjust seasonings as needed. Don’t skimp on the salt and pepper because it’s what seasons the entire salad.
  8. Stir in the minced red onion.
  9. Add the beans:
  10. Add the drained and rinsed red kidney beans and the chickpeas. Drain the green beans from the ice bath, removing any remaining ice cubes. Add the green beans to the salad. Stir to combine.
  11. Transfer the salad to an airtight container and allow it to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but longer is better. (8 hours is best).
  12. To serve, give the salad a good stir and top with the crumbled feta.
  13. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week. It gets more flavorful the longer it sits!
Notes
Prep time does not include the time required for the salad to chill in the fridge.

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