Summer Bean Confetti Salad with Pickled Red Onion Vinaigrette

This recipe for Summer Bean Confetti Salad with Pickled Red Onion Vinaigrette is a great example of simple summertime cooking: it’s fresh, it’s easy to make, and it tastes good! The recipe would also be really easy to double or triple if you needed more than four servings

The only type of beans I could find were traditional green beans (no yellow or purple beans were to be found). The salad would be more visually appealing if you used several different types of beans but don’t sweat it if you only use the regular ol’ green ones. We were given a jar of toasted pine nuts as a gift and they worked great here — slightly toasty and crunchy. I added a little more vinegar to the vinaigrette because I wanted more tang. I garnished the salad with a sprinkling of good French sheep’s milk feta cheese that I had in the fridge. Enjoy!

Summer Bean Confetti Salad with Pickled Red Onion Vinaigrette
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Use a selection of beans for this salad. The colors, shapes, and textures will make it interesting and delicious. Servings: four.

Kosher salt

3/4 lb. beans, assorted sizes and varieties, trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch lengths (3 cups)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp. granulated sugar

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup loosely packed torn fresh basil

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the beans in the water until crisp-tender (cooking times of different types of beans will vary, so cook each variety separately). Drain and run under cold water to cool. Drain well and put the beans in a serving bowl.

In a small, non-reactive saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, and 1 tsp. salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, return to a boil, and immediately pour the mixture into a nonreactive bowl to cool, about 15 minutes. Drain the onion and reserve the vinegar.

Toss the onion with the beans, add 1 Tbs. of the vinegar and the olive oil. Add the basil and pine nuts (if using), season to taste with salt and pepper and toss again. Add more of the vinegar if you’d like a little more tang.