Since many of you might be needing an easy salad recipe for your July 4th festivities, I thought I better honor my promise from the Aldi's comments to share my 3 Bean Salad recipe. (I will try to post my German Potato Salad and Baked Beans recipes too before the 4th.)

I adapted this recipe from the Victory Garden cookbook years ago. You can make it with just 3 different kinds of beans or add however many you wish. Martha Stewart once had a 10 bean salad, so let your imagination run wild!

The recipe:

1 1/2 C green beans (1 drained can or use fresh or frozen but lightly steam first. I use Aldi's or Roundy's brand--they are fine)

1 1/2 C yellow wax beans (same as above)

! 1/2 C dark red kidney beans (one can, drained, or cook your own)

1 C slivered green, red, orange, and/or yellow peppers 

3/4 C thinly sliced red onion (optional)

1 clove garlic peeled and split in 2. (Allow to marinate in dressing but remove prior to serving)

2/3 C wine vinegar

1/3 C sugar (I like brown)

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C veg. oil (I omitted this)

1/2 t. Worcester sauce 

1 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

1/8 t. celery seed (I added this)

 
Mix the dressing in a large salad bowl and then add the beans. Chill. Pretty simple!

 
Now for the variations :)

I have added frozen baby peas (just pour them in right from the bag), garbanzo beans (I cook my own, or canned is fine), whole green beans (Aldi's cute little whole frozen type), C&W frozen yellow and green Italian green beans, black beans (if using canned, wash well), light and dark kidney beans, frozen Lima beans (lightly steamed), 1 cup sliced quartered cucumbers, 1/2 C. celery slices....did I miss anything?

Use whatever beans and peas your family likes. If you are adding a lot of extra beans, make extra dressing. For a large gathering, I would double the dressing and non-bean ingredients and then add up to 5 C extra beans.

Beans are very nutritious and contain soluble fiber. If you add any grain (bread, corn on the cob, rice, etc.) you get a complete protein.

Bean salad is great because you can make it in advance and don't have to worry about it spoiling at the picnic.

Enjoy! 

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Drill Here passed the 1 million mark. It is at 1.2 million now. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions. 

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June 19th UPDATE: Tomatoes are still causing a problem. The ill total has climbed to 383. Here is the latest info from the FDA. This link includes a list of states and Florida counties that sell tomatoes NOT associated with the salmonella outbreak. Of course using them would depend on being able to verify where the tomato was grown and trusting that the label was correct. I have enough trouble just finding out if the tomato was grown in the US. (I don't use produce from Mexico or Chile for example.) Many produce managers are unable to tell you where the produce came from. To me, it is a lot simpler and safer just to stick with the tomatoes on the vine and cherry/grape varieties.

Thankfully, tomatoes are back and nobody was seriously hurt--277 people did get sick though. While not an "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", salmonella is nothing to treat lightly. It doesn't seem that there are any real answers as to why this outbreak occurred, but I always wonder if it had anything to do with improper handling.

When I Googled salmonella, tomatoes, I was surprised to see that this recent outbreak was not the first. There were cases since 1990.  Seems the Roma type have often been the culprits.

You know how your mom always told you to wash your hands? Well, you need to wash your produce too. My sister-in-law gave me the heads up on this years ago. She said she heard a speaker in the health field say that often people don't wash the outside of a watermelon, take it to a picnic, cut it, eat it, and then when people get sick, they blame the potato salad!

Since my sis-in-laws warning, I now scrub the outside of cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple and other hard skinned fruits and vegetables with mild organic soap and water. I give softer fruits and veggies a good shower in plenty of running water before eating too.

Now that I think of it, I should be washing citrus fruits* as well. Just because I peel them does not mean that their bacteria laden peelings don't come in contact with the edible part. (Think of all the grubby hands that touched your food before you did, and it will inspire you to give it a good bath.) 

I don't know if that is what happened with the tomatoes that have recently been in the news, but I suspect there are people out there that don't wash any of their produce before eating it.

By the way, they said that homegrown tomatoes were exempt from the ban. Since all the rain, my plants have really grown. Can't wait! 

More on tomatoes: Salmonella outbreak linked to raw tomatoes strikes about 150 This could be the reason salmonella affected the commercial plum and large tomatoes but not those on the stem:

Simply washing tomatoes can help, but it won't necessarily remove the salmonella bacteria, because when tomatoes are picked on very hot days and put into cold water to chill, salmonella on their surface can be drawn up into the fruit.

This is just my conjecture, the smaller cherry tomatoes would chill quickly once refrigerated and so did not need the cold bath? A grower would not want to risk tomatoes falling off the vine (thus losing value) and so the stem ones were never washed? If you read anything more on the tomato issue, please share.

*There was a recent warning about high bacteria counts in lemon slices placed in drinks and water glasses at restaurants. Often the server does not don the plastic gloves to do this bit of business like they do with other plating activities. Their dirty hands then come in direct contact with your beverage via the lemon slice. 

Links:

One week down, 51 more to go in 2008. Already I am thinking, where did the first week go? (I started the new year out a little under the weather, so that may account for feeling I missed out on something.)

The end of the past year and start of the new naturally lends itself to being a time of reassessment. Being one of those Christmas letter people helps me sum up our highs and lows of the year. 

I get a pretty good look at our finances when I make our one time, year end donations to various causes rather than monthly donations (it just seems simpler to do it once).  I also render to Caesar by bringing my property tax payment to City Hall prior to year's end.

Some people clear out their Christmas decorations immediately after Christmas--they can't stand the clutter. Me, I leave my tree up until at least the end of January. I figure it takes me so long to put the thing up (if you saw it, you would understand) that I at least like to bask in its glow a bit before taking it down. Plus the decorations help chase the winter blahs away.  

Organizing seems to be a common theme of the new year. You can see it in the big box store ads. All sorts of organizational bins and boxes are on sale to get your stuff in order. 

New Year's resolutions are popular, but by now, some are already broken. I much prefer setting goals--something to strive for. The acronym J.O.Y. helps me keep my priorities straight. It stands for Jesus, Others, You. 

Setting a goal for the J, for example, might mean spending more time reading the Bible and praying every day. But make it a reasonable goal--maybe one chapter a day and 15 minutes of praying. (Keeping a prayer list really helps me.)

O for others could include your family. Maybe this is the year you will make family time and family meals a priority? Others also includes neighbors, community, school, volunteering, politics, charities, etc.

Finally You!  Getting/keeping fit and healthy living goals are always popular here. Again, don't start with something unreasonable like walking 5 miles a day. How about walking 3 times a week for 1/2 hour? (That is my goal this year. I know my dog will be happy about it too.) Saying you will never eat sugar again won't work, but designating a small sweet treat to once a day is something that could work for a lifetime. You also means taking a little time to do what you enjoy--maybe your You goal is to learn something new or go visit a place you always wanted to see. It might be as simple as saying you will make time to meet with a good friend once a week.

Well, it is time for me to get on with my day--must go ORGANIZE something!

Hope you reach your goals for 2008.