Colorful Kidney Bean Salad

Inge 1505's Note:

You'll find similar salads at many German BBQs or on cold buffets. It is quick and simple, can be prepared ahead and makes a good vegetarian meal with some whole wheat bread and butter. I love kidney beans and I love salad, so this is among my favorites.- I like it with some tang from the vinegar, feel free to add a little more sugar.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

For Salad

• 2 (14 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 yellow bell pepper, in 3/8 inch dice
• 1 medium tomato, deseeded, in 3/8 inch dice
• 1 jalapeno, deseeded, minced (to taste)
• 2 small scallions, in 3/8 inch slices
• 2 tablespoons basil, minced

For dressing

• 2 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Note: I use white and light green parts of scallions only. - Adjust hotness to your taste by choosing the amount of jalapeno.
2. For the dressing mix all ingredients except oil together until blended. Add oil and taste. It should be nicely sour.
3. Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl, pour dressing over and mix thoroughly.
4. Let flavors blend for at least 15 minutes or keep in the fridge up to 24 hours ( use less jalapeno then). Serve at room temperature.
5. NOTE: If you plan to make the salad ahead of time, consider to add the basil only 30 minutes before serving, so it won't get all brown, but the flavors will have time to blend.

Reviews

[Cookie Jarvis]

So delicious! If you need to substitute green pepper for yellow and red onions for green, go ahead! The dressing is tasty and the colors so pretty.

[bshemyshua]

I could have kicked myself when I came back to get this recipe after losing my first copy, and found that I never rated this. The picture really caught my eye too. Thats when I tried it and this has become another favorite in our household. The fresh tomatoes, onion and peppers really give what would have been just another bean salad a definite edge. The jalapeno gives a nice kick to it. I felt the salad was close enough to a fresh salsa so I serve this with tortillia shell scoops. I will make sure I have more than one copy of the recipe from now on. On the side, I have also found that the basic vinegar/oil or lemon/oil dressing that comes with this so good that I use it has a staple dressing for my green salads as well because it has just the right balance of oil and vinegar and the seasonings/ flavorings do not complicate the flavor of this dressing, so instead of overpowering my salads it simply compliments them.

[Missy Wombat]

Excellent easy recipe that is very healthy and definitely worth making. And I'm another one that fell for the photo! Great shot!