Italian Bean & Potato Salad

We had some leftover fried chicken last night for dinner, and I needed a good, healthy side dish to go with it. I decided to make an Italian bean & potato salad, which was the perfect choice. I loaded it up with all kinds of colorful goodness. Thank you to both The Ohio Cook at My Meals Are on Wheels at https://beatcancer2010.wordpress.com/ and Health Continuum at https://healthcontinuum.org/ for this delicious idea. I changed it a little, to make it my own, but that’s just what I do. 🙂

Italian Bean & Potato Salad

1 cup green beans or haricot verts, ends trimmed, cooked and cut into pieces about 1-1 1/2 inches in size

1 lb new potatoes, boiled and quartered

1/2 red onion, diced fine

1 can red beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup mixed cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 TBSP maple syrup

1-2 tsp garlic

salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp each fresh thyme and fresh orgeano, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Whisk everything together to make the dressing and set aside.

Boil the potatoes for about 12 minutes, then rinse and let cool for a bit.

Cook the green beans for about 5-7 minutes, then drain and cool. Once the potatoes and green beans have cooled a little, add to the rest of the ingredients and toss together well. Add the dressing, and toss again, making sure everything is well coated. Add enough dressing to give it all a lot of flavor without drowning the vegetables. You can serve either warm or at room temperature.

This quick, easy, colorful salad will go well with anything. If you want to make it more of a meal, add it all to a bed of lettuce, spinach or mixed greens and add some chicken, salmon or shrimp, and voila! You have now made it a meal. This just might be a new favorite salad of mine. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.