Confetti Bean Salad
Confetti bean salad is the perfect dish to take to family picnics. Not only is it mayonnaise free, it’s super easy to make.
If you can boil water, you can make this salad. It’s so easy to make, you’ll wonder why you don’t make it more often. Besides that, the family will love it and you’ll have an empty bowl.
When the weather warms up and cookout season starts up, salads take front stage with the grilled main dish meats. Salads with mayonnaise dressings need special attention during hot weather, so food poisoning doesn’t affect your guests.
No need to worry about illness with this salad – the dressing is oil and vinegar based. My homemade version packs a lot of flavor, but you can use your favorite store brand for a shortcut.
How to cook beans:
One of the best parts of this recipe is the cost factor. I used dried beans. You can purchase dried beans at any grocery, for pennies a pound. You can purchase canned beans for a fairly inexpensive price, also. They are perfect for convenience factor. Don’t be afraid of dried beans, however, they are easy to prepare.
There are many ways to cook beans.
- Instant Pot
- Crock Pot / Slow Cooker
- Oven Baked
- Stove Top
Since this recipe uses a fairly small amount of beans, and the variety I selected were small beans, I used the stove top method.
Rinse dried beans. Place in a pan and cover with water. Heat slowly to a boil, then turn heat to medium-low and simmer. Beans should be soft after 45 minutes or an hour.
Variations:
The wonderful magic about using beans, is they are all interchangeable in most recipes. This recipe uses lentils, peas and black beans for convenience sake. They cook quickly.
They also make the salad colorful, hence the name Confetti Bean Salad. However, you can substitute any combination of beans that you like.
A shortcut approach is to use canned beans. Drain and rinse the beans, then combine with dressing, pimientos and cheese.
Make It a Meal:
Confetti bean salad is a perfect side dish to take along to family picnics and cookouts.
For other cookout side dishes, consider these options: 3 Versions of Potato salad, Nacho corn salad, Black bean and corn salsa, Carrot and Raisin salad, Pea and Peanut Salad.
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Confetti Bean Salad Recipe
Ingredients:
Dried Lentils: Brown, Green, Yellow. Black Beans, Pimientos, Feta Cheese and Italian Dressing.
Recipe Directions:
Measure your beans. Soak them in water for an hour. Rinse and bring to a boil. When beans are soft, drain. Mix with dressing, pimientos and Feta cheese.
Confetti Bean Salad
A great salad for picnics … a mix of beans with some Italian dressing, this dish is a winner!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Black Beans dried
- 1/2 cup Brown Lentils dried
- 1/2 cup Green Split Peas dried
- 1/2 cup Yellow Split Peas dried
- 1/2 cup Pimientos
- 1 cup Feta Cheese
- 1 cup Italian Dressing
Instructions
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Cook dried beans in water until soft.
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Drain and rinse beans.
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Place beans, pimientos and cheese in medium bowl.
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Drizzle Italian dressing and stir.
Approximate Nutritional Information:
Servings Per Recipe: 8, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 335, Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 28g, Sodium: 118mg, Carbs: 44g, Protein: 16g
(please remember these are approximate and will vary slightly based on your ingredient selections.)
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