White Bean Picnic Salad

Beans are extremely easy to cook. They are high in fiber and protein and can be found year round in the stores. For a quick recipe, one can use canned beans. But an even better alternative is to use dried beans. They are inexpensive and take very little effort once you know how to cook them.

Empty your beans into a stew pot. Sort through them and discard any small stones or shriveled beans. Add water to the pot and cover the beans by 2 inches or so. To cook beans, there are two ways to get started: slow soak (overnight) or quick soak. 1) To slow soak your beans, let them sit in the water overnight or for at least 6-8 hours. Drain the beans and water in a colander. Place the beans back into the pot and add new water to cover by the same 2 inches. 2) To quick soak, boil the beans for about 15 minutes, let them cool on the stove, drain them and cover with more water. At this point, whether you slow or fast soaked your beans, you are now ready to actually cook them to tenderness.

Different beans take differing amounts of time to cook. Size makes a difference and sometimes variety does too. For small white navy beans, I cook them about 1 ½ hours or until they are soft enough but not mushy. Drain them and season to taste. The following recipe is a great picnic addition. It serves 12 people for a pound of beans. That’s a great deal!

White Beans with Garlic, Roasted Tomatoes, and Fresh Basil

1 pound bag of dried navy beans
1 head of fresh garlic, the top of which is sliced off to expose the cloves
8-10 Roma tomatoes
Olive oil
Sugar, salt and pepper
¼ cup chopped basil and a basil sprig for decor
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Slow soak or quick soak your beans and drain the beans and soaking water through a colander. Add the beans and the entire head of garlic back into the pot and add fresh water to cover by a couple of inches. Bring the beans to a slow simmer and cook until tender. Drain the beans and put them into a bowl. Squeeze the juices from the cooked head of garlic into the beans and discard the skins.

While the beans are cooking, slowly roast the tomatoes. Set the oven to 325 degrees. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into fourths lengthwise. Put them onto a baking sheet with a rim and drizzle with olive oil, a sprinkle of sugar, dash of salt and black pepper. Use your hands and toss the tomatoes to coat them with the seasoning and oil. Bake the tomatoes until they are almost carmelized, about an hour.

Add the tomatoes to the cooked beans with the garlic. Scrape in any juices from the pan as well. Stir in the fresh chopped basil, sea salt and pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly. Serve with the basil sprig on top.

One of the reasons I like this as a picnic dish is that it is delicious served at room temperature. Enjoy!

- Kim Fielding