Make-Ahead Bean Salad

Make Ahead Bean Salad

After a crazy few weeks, I'm settling in to routine. I think know I do better when I have a routine to follow. Particularly when it comes to choosing my meals. It is so incredibly easy to slip off the healthy food wagon and make less wise choices. Sometimes because I'm tired and I want the quickest food I can grab. Sometimes because I'm lazy and don't want to cook. Sometimes because dessert sounds like the best thing I can think of!

But for one more time I'm trying to do better. That usually means keeping ready to eat things in my refrigerator. Like this bean salad. I love bean salads and there are a few in the recipe index here on the blog. This one is a little different. Most of the ones I make call for sugar in the marinade. Sometimes not much but there is always some. 

Unlike those, this salad has no sugar. Not even sweet pickles! I used dill pickle salad cubes along with some of the pickle juice and vinegar for the marinade. The first taste was good, but I'm sure it well be even better after it sits in the refrigerator for several hours. By dinner time it's going to be the perfect side dish.

Using canned beans makes this so quick to put together. And beans are high in fiber and protein. Both fiber and protein are good for keeping you from getting hungry 20 minutes after you eat—like I do when I've grabbed fast food. 

In keeping with my jazz journey, this recipe also involves improv. There are so many similarities between cooking and playing music. Improv is a big one. I had a recipe as my starting place. Then I changed things around because of when I had (and didn't have) in my kitchen. You have my permission to do the same thing.

Here is the original recipe. My "improv" changes follow.

MAKE-AHEAD BEAN SALAD

1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1 (15-oz) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup chopped cucumber

1 cup diced grape tomatoes

1 cup diced orange bell pepper

1/2 cup scallions

1/2 cup dill pickle salad cubes

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons dill pickle juice

2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Can serve chilled or at room temperature.

How easy is that? Here are my adjustments. 

• I used a red bell pepper because that's what I had. The orange pepper would add another color to the mix. That would be a nice visual, but the taste is the same.
• I didn't have scallions so I added some minced onion. Close enough.
• No fresh parsley here either. I used a good sprinkle of parsley flakes. Fresh would definitely be best, but you do what you have to do.
• How could I be out of white vinegar? I'm never out of that. But I was today. Apple cider vinegar was close enough.

See? No major changes. No need to dash to the store for a missing ingredient. This is close enough.

Same as with recipe variations, the most interesting music is full of variations, too. Learning how to put the pieces together is excellent brain exercise. I'm learning to play Misty right now—and all the fun embellishments and fills that I've always wanted to understand,.

And just to show that I really am getting back to my routine, the knitting has been pulled out, too! You can't play piano and cook all of the time.