Five Bean Salad

Bean salad is an old fashioned type of refrigerator salad.  Lately, I've been doing a lot of nostalgic cooking, so, it was time to add this salad to my recipe archives. The flavor of the brine has a sweet and sour edge and we enjoy a bit of heat by adding red pepper flakes. It's a perfect salad for making in advance and it gets even better the longer it sits.

Ingredients:

16 oz frozen cut green beans, steamed and cooled
1 [15] oz can garbanzo beans [chickpeas], drained
1 [15] oz can cannelini beans, drained
1 [15] oz can baby lima beans, drained
1 [15] oz can light red kidney beans, drained
3/4 cup white balsamic or apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes [more or less to taste]
1 medium red bell pepper,  diced
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

 Steam the green beans per the package directions and cool.  Place the remaining beans in a colander and rinse under cold water.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, celery seed and red pepper flakes until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the  beans, diced red bell pepper and onion to the bowl.  Gently toss until combined.  Store chilled in a shallow air tight container.  Gently stir periodically to evenly distribute the brine for at least 1-2 days before serving.  May be made up to a week in advance.  Yield: 20 servings

Cook's note:

When storing this salad, I recommend that you use a large shallow air tight container.  Each morning flip the container to allow the brine to evenly marinate all of the ingredients.

Source: melissassouthernstylekitchen.com