There are a few strategies that make summer easier for us. One is to make summer salads. Not lettuce and dressing salads, but bean salads, pasta salads and veggie salads. It’s a great way to keep yourself on track with a gluten-free or grain-free diet because it gives you a quick way to feed yourself when what you really want to do is play outside in the garden or at the park with your kids.
This Spring I’ll be featuring some of my favorite salads. This Tarragon Three Bean Salad is a go-to recipe I’ve made for many years. I love the dressing, the fresh tomato and the Feta cheese (Ahhhh, Feta <3). All of those things are that much more tasty with the different bean textures in the salad. The fresh green beans help keep it light and the garbanzos give it some tooth. It’s just a wonderful combo, especially if you make it the day before and let it absorb all the flavors overnight.
Admission: I don’t really like tarragon. For some reason, the French herbs are not a favorite of my palate but here, I love the licoricey flavor with the garlic and lemon. If you’re not a fan of tarragon, go easy at first. Maybe only use a half tablespoon instead of a whole one
- For the veggie mixture:
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 2 cups fresh green beans, blanched and cooled
- 1 can Adzuki beans (or other small red bean)
- 1 can Garbanzo beans (or other medium sized white bean)
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 4 oz. Feta cheese, crumbled
- For the dressing:
- 3 Tbls. Dijon mustard
- 1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. garlic, minced
- ½ tsp. real salt
- 1 Tbls. fresh tarragon, minced
- Combine all the dressing ingredients and mix well.
- Combine all the veggie ingredients and stir in dressing.
- Serve at room temperature.