A hot and hazy, mid-week “hello” to you all. And a good day for a simple but substantial side dish recipe with white beans and thyme to add to your weekday BBQ menu.
I found this recipe recently in Canadian Living magazine in their Quick and Easy recipes. Right up my alley. I was looking for ways to use the herbs that are flourishing in a big container at my back door. Do you grow herbs in the summertime too?
It’s taken me some years to come up with a combination of herbs that will survive my black-thumb gardening methods and that will actually get used in my cooking. Thyme is just so pretty and smells gorgeous. But honestly I didn’t know what I would use it for except roast chicken and chicken stock. Not happening that much in the summer.
So I tried this recipe and it has quickly become a go-to. It’s also great for bringing to a pot-luck type event, and tastes just as great as leftovers for the next couple of days. You can check out the original recipe through the link above, which includes directions for a steak also using thyme. I've tweaked the recipe a bit to suit our tastes. Here then is the PersonallyAndrea version…
First send your helper out to the garden with a pair of scissors to collect a big handful of thyme. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Start with the dressing…2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp dijon mustard and whisk that all together. Add in the rest of the ingredients…a can of white kidney beans drained and rinsed, one cucumber chopped, half a cup of cubed feta, a quarter cup of diced red onion, a half tbsp of chopped fresh thyme.
(May I just digress slightly over the quarter cup of diced red onion? Why do recipes always call for a small amount of diced red onion? Don’t they know that red onions are huge? And then what are you supposed to do? Make red onion recipes for days on end till it’s used up? Could somebody invent a quarter cup sized red onion please?)
And so the first time I made this salad I diced up the rest of the onion and froze it. Then the next time I made it I took out a quarter cup of FROZEN diced red onion and used that. And it was fine! My free useful tip from PersonallyAndrea's kitchen. You’re welcome.
But back to dinner. Oh look at that. It’s already done. Side dish served up beside your choice of grilled or seared meat. Doesn’t that look yummy? Enjoy!
White Bean Salad with Thyme:
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil -2 tbsp red wine vinegar - 1 tbsp dijon mustard - 1 can white kidney beans drained and rinsed - 1 cucumber, chopped - 1/2 cup cubed feta cheese - 1/4 cup diced red onion - 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
Whisk dressing ingredients together in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, combine and serve.
