Bean salad – with 4 beans:
As I was going through my hardcopy recipe book that my mom put together for me when I moved out – back in the late 1980’s… I guess I’d gotten this original recipe card in my Nana’s handwriting for Bean Salad. I had to get this recipe into the blog – for posterity if nothing else.
You see…I’m not a huge pickled bean eater. I just spent some time googling and it seems that there must be a lot of pickled bean salad eaters out there as there are a bunch of these recipes some even with the “classic” title. Some with “BEST bean salad ever”. Seems a lot of them came from their mom – which likely came from their mom…. aka – Nana’s Bean Salad. So it is, for sure, a classic recipe.
I do remember my Mom making this recipe a lot – and the big green tupperware bowl she used to make it. As a kid I never got into it. In the vibe of #KeepingItReal – I’ll share that I’ve never made this myself. (Gasp!) It calls for Lima beans. Besides Mom Lampert – I don’t know a single other soul (apparently besides my Nana) who liked / likes lima beans…
Substitute out / in the beans you prefer:
As I browsed a handful of ‘bean salad’ recipes I saw some trends. People use the beans they like. Out with the lima and in with the black beans. Out with the wax beans and in with the green beans. One woman was even adding in fresh beans – which requires the extra step of blanching the beans so they are cooked, but crisp in the salad. That’s a woman who really digs her bean salad!
This recipe seems pretty flexible:
A number of the reviews said I added or topped with roma tomatoes, feta cheese, olives etc. and people were making a meal out of similar recipes. That all sounds intriguing and now, of course, I’m going to have to get after this recipe and see what concoctions I can create and share back with you. For now – let’s just get Nana’s recipe out there and we will go from there.
One last caveat:
The recipe calls for 2C Sugar. Yikes. I’m positive that’s how Nana made it. Maybe that’s how she got people to eat Lima beans? You make the call. When I get to this recipe – doubtful I’ll be adding 2 C of sugar, tho.
Nana’s Classic Pickled Bean Salad with Green Pepper, Celery and Onion
Ingredients
Pickling Liquid
- 1½ C White Vinegar
- ½ C Water
- 2 C Sugar – ???
- 1 Tbl Salt
Salad Ingredients
- 1 Can Wax Beans – Drained and Rinsed
- 1 Can Lima Beans – Drained and Rinsed
- 1 Can Chick Peas – Drained and Rinsed
- 1 Can Kidney Beans – Drained and Rinsed
- 3 small Onions – Sliced
- 1 Green Pepper – Diced
- 2 stalks Celery – Sliced
Instructions
- Combine vinegar, sugar, water and salt (in a saucepan). Stir and bring to a boil.
- Prepare salad Ingredients and put into a big bowl.
- Pour cooled vinegar sugar mixture over the prepared salad ingredients and let stand (in the refrigerator) for about 24 hours before serving.
