5-Ingredient 3-Bean Salad

Bean salad is a great side dish for outdoor parties now that the weather is getting warmer(or so they say), or for dinner when I don’t really feel like cooking anything. Lucky for me this makes a lot so I can eat a lot spread it across meals! Now before you go and think I can’t count, yes, I know this has more than 5-ingredients. But only 5 of the ingredients are key players and you’ll never be a comfortable chef if you can’t get used to eyeballing olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper into every dish you make. There’s just no two ways about it with those ingredients. Oh, and the name is more appealing that “9-Ingredient 3-Bean salad”.

5-Ingredient 3-Bean Salad

Ingredients(Makes 4-6 servings):

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1 can cannellini beans, drained
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 1 can of pitted olives, drained and halved
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt(omit if your beans are already salted)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Start by mixing together all of the beans. If you haven’t already, prepare the olives and cucumber.

Add in the olives, cucumber, salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar.

Toss the salad until it’s all mixed thoroughly. Serve cold or at room temperature.

I love how simple but flavorful this is. The cucumber is refreshing and the olives are deep in flavor, but the beans are the star of the show all the way through. It’s great as a side dish but also on its own from a bowl.