My Holiday Go-To Recipe: Three Bean Salad!

I love to have a go-to recipe, especially for all of our holiday get togethers. Everyone seems to make the same things every year; green bean casserole, candied yams, mashed potatoes, and of course, a turkey or ham. I highly recommend this dish because it is low cost, easy to make, and everyone from the little kids to the old folks at the party loves it! You can easily double this recipe, but it serves about 12 people, which I usually find to be enough. I also like to use any extra sauce at the bottom of the dish as a salad dressing for the next day. It also keeps very well, so it can easily be made a day (or two if necessary) in advance, so you have one less thing to worry about on your holiday.

THREE BEAN SALAD

1 lb green beans
1 lb yellow beans
1 15oz can red kidney beans, drained
1/2 c chopped green bell pepper
1/2 c sliced red onion
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper

If using fresh green/yellow beans, cook slightly. Combine beans, green pepper, and onion. Whisk together remaining ingredients, and pour over bean mixture. Toss salad well, and chill for at least 4 hours. Serve.

Another thing that I love about this salad is that you can use so many different kinds of beans (like for this one I couldn’t find the yellow beans so I went with Italian beans), and the greater the variety, the more beautiful it looks. I usually use a mixture of canned or frozen green beans, but if you would like to use fresh, it just takes an extra couple of minutes of cooking. This is a great alternative to the typical holiday meals, and is always a crowd pleaser. Make sure to make enough to have with your leftovers the next day!