Bright and Tasty Salad

Fresh Bean SaladServes: 8 | Serving Size: 1 cupIngredients:

• 1 cup lima beans
• 3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
• 3/4 pound wax beans, trimmed
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil on high heat. Add lima beans and cook for 15 minutes. Add green beans and wax beans to the water with the lima beans; cook for 5 more minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and then drain again.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add beans and toss everything together.
3. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate for later use.

Nutrition Information:

• Serves 8. Each serving has 50 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 51 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugar, and 2 g protein.
• Each serving also has 6% DV vitamin A, 20% DV vitamin C, 4% DV calcium, and 5% DV iron.

Chef’s Tips:

1. This bean salad looks very nice when placed on a bed of leaf lettuce and garnished with fresh wedges of lemon. You can also top it with sliced shallot, as pictured above.
2. Rinsing the beans in cold water will help them stop cooking, making it much easier to ensure that you don’t have mushy beans in this salad.Feel free to sub in your favorite vinegar in this dish — it’s very versatile.