Six o’clock fix: bean salad turns heads after the holidays

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Simple, easy-to-prepare, and sustainable foods are all the rage as we rebound from fancy holiday feasts. Macedonia: The Cookbook (Interlink / Thomas Allen, $ 45) fits the season with its simple, warm dishes.

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Katerina Nitsou, a Macedonian-Canadian catering chef, has produced a large, easy-to-use collection of over 100 recipes that may seem familiar because we know some dishes from Greece and other countries in the region. Beans are a favorite food, they are prepared in salads like this, or in stews or soups. Use the beans you like, says the Toronto author.

The peppers can also be varied. In the Nitsou family, they are “one of the most popular ingredients.” Purists may want to hunt down a traditional variety called rezha. It’s a Macedonian favorite: long, thin, and striped, with a jalapeno-like hotness. Mint, used in the dressing of this salad, is also common in her family’s kitchen, Nitsou writes.

This salad can be made and the dressing added in advance, then the salad is covered and refrigerated, and brought back to room temperature for serving. But the best results are obtained when the dressing is made at the last minute, using fresh mint.

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White Bean Salad

For 6

Bandage:

2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons / 30 mL)

1 tablespoon (15 ml) minced fresh mint or 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried mint leaves

1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp (2 ml) kosher or coarse salt

Whisk together the oil and lemon juice in a small cup or bowl.

Add mint, red pepper flakes, and salt. Beat to mix the ingredients.

Salad:

2 cans (540 ml / 19 oz each) navy beans, drained and rinsed

2 large tomatoes or 1 pint (2 cups / 500 ml) cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

In a large salad bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion. Toss to combine the ingredients.

Pour the dressing over everything and stir.

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