Recipe(tried): White Bean Salad with Olives, Green Onions and Herbs; Chickpea Salad with Piquillos, Lemon and Herbs; Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad with Herb Dressing - Three more recipes for Judy - Indiana

WHITE BEAN SALAD WITH OLIVES, GREEN ONIONS AND HERBS

This recipe is based on one from the Williams-Sonoma cookbook, Beans and Rice. When I made this, I needed something a little faster than that recipe. I used canned beans instead of cooking them from scratch, small white beans instead of garbanzo beans (don't know why I didn't use canned garbanzos - cook's perogative, I guess) and I used some dried herbs to save time (never mind money) instead of chopping all of the fresh herbs that the recipe called for. I did use some fresh since I did have some fresh rosemary, and I used fresh mint since dried doesn't come close to fresh mint. We were very pleasantly surprised with how good (to us) this was. If you don't care for olives, you could omit them but I'm not sure what the salad will taste like without them.

1 (15.5 oz.) can Goya small white beans, drained and rinsed under cold water
1/2 Tbsp. (1 1/2 tsp.) red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh mint, minced
1 tsp. dried basil, crushed a little between my hands
1/2 tsp. dried leaf thyme, crushed a little
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed a little
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 Tbsp. pitted, coarsely chopped Kalamata olives
1 1/2 Tbsp. pitted coarsely chopped green olives with pimiento (Spanish olives?)
2 green onions with tops, finely chopped

Rinse the beans. Drain well. Place in a bowl. Add all other ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

---

CHICKPEAS WITH PIQUILLOS, LEMON AND HERBS

3 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzos) or 2 (15 oz.) cans, drained (I used canned, in bottles from Whole Foods, chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
6 oz. (about 10) authentic Piquillo peppers from Spain, drained and coarsely chopped (They are Spanish roasted Red Peppers. You will have to take the seeds out of them but it is a very easy job since they have already been roasted and peeled. I get these at our local Whole Foods grocery store. If you can't get them, use other roasted red peppers but the taste of the salad will be a bit different.)
1 or 2 lemons (I used 1 since I didn't want the salad too lemony)
8 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
4 sprigs savory or thyme, finely chopped (I used thyme)
1 sprig rosemary, removed from stem and finely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil from Spain (I also got this at Whole Foods)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

If using dried chickpeas, soak 1/2 lb. (about 1 cup) in cold water overnight in the refrigerator.
To cook, pour off soaking water, top with fresh, cold water or vegetable stock, add a peeled carrot, a stalk of celery, a halved, peeled onion, a few cracked garlic cloves, and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer until done, about 2 hours. During the cooking process add salt and black pepper to taste.

When beans are tender, drain and cool. Place in mixing bowl.

Remove the yellow portion of peel from lemon with a microrasp, or with a vegetable peeler and chop finely. Cut lemon(s) in half and squeeze the juice over the chickpeas. Add chopped herbs, lemon zest, and Piquillo peppers to chickpeas. Toss with olive oil and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. 4-6 servings Very pretty and very tasty:-)!! Also, it is very light and so it is a great salad for a hot day.

---

GREEN BEAN AND CHERRY TOMATO SALAD WITH HERB DRESSING

This is easy and delicious. Sometimes I add fresh mozzarella cut into bite size pieces, but use white balsamic vinegar if you add the cheese since the regular balsamic will turn the cheese an unappetizing brown.

1 1/2 pounds slender green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces

3/4 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

Cook beans in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water and cool. Drain well. Place in large bowl.