The BEST Bean Salad

I love bean salads!  My grandma made the most amazing bean salad ever and she knew that I loved it so she would make it especially for me sometimes.  That always made me feel loved by her, because she knew how much I loved her bean salad.  It was very simple, but so delicious.

Grandma's Bean Salad
1 can green beans
1 can yellow beans
1 can kidney beans
(or any type of beans can replace these 3)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, chopped

Dressing:
1/3 c. oil
2/3 c. vinegar
1/2 c. sugar (In my handwriting on this recipe card I have "TOO MUCH!  Even 1/3 is too much!)
1 tsp. salt.

Mix dressing ingredients with onion and pepper until sugar is dissolved.  Add rinsed beans.  Stir and refrigerate overnight. 

So, that WAS my favorite bean salad, and don't get me wrong, I still love, love, LOVE it!  But I was introduced to another bean salad two weeks ago and since then, I think I've made it about four times already!  It is my newest BEST bean salad!

This is from Connie's dad who, I'm told, kind of just made it up on the spot. 

Connie and Robert's Bean Salad
(This is mostly the recipe that I received from Connie)

1 cup dry white navy beans soaked in 3 cups of water in the fridge for 24 hours (the longer they soak the less gassy for you).
Simmer the beans in clean water for 60-90 minutes until tender. Rinse in cold water.
In a bowl add:
3 ears of corn, cut off cob
approximately 2 cups of cooked navy beans (or all of it for a larger salad, in that case you will need 4 ears of corn)
about 1/2 medium onion finely diced
about 1" ginger finely diced + or - depending on your taste
dressing:
several splashes of apple cider vinegar
a splash or two of olive oil
several shakes of herbamare
sprinkle of cayenne pepper + or - as you like
a few shakes each: ground coriander seed, dried basil & parsley (although fresh basil / parsley would be better) (cilantro might be nice also)
Mix into the beans and corn and let sit to marry altogether for at least 1/2 hour.

I personally did use fresh cilantro and no coriander seed, fresh basil and fresh parsley.  I also tried something different with my ginger.  I had purchased extra because I knew I'd be making this salad often and I put the extra ginger in the freezer.  When I needed it, I scraped the skin off with a sharp knife and then used a hand grater with small holes and grated the ginger into the beans.  This was so easy to do!

Try this!  I'm sure you will no doubt fall in love with this just like I have!  It's my newest source of protein staple that I keep in my refrigerator all the time!  I love it!