White Bean and Celery Salad Recipe

White Bean and Celery Salad

White Bean and Celery Salad, This simple salad is a delicious alternative to the potato salad that seems to appear at every picnic spread. If you do not have time to soak and cook dried beans, use canned ones.

SERVES 4

• 1 lb. dried white beans (haricot, cannellini, navy, or butter beans) or
  3×14 oz. cans white beans
• 4 ½ cups vegetable stock, made from a cube
• 3 stalks celery, cut into ½ in strips
• ½ cup French Dressing
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper

• 1. If using dried beans, cover with plenty of cold water and soak for at least 4 hours. Discard the soaking water, then place the beans in a heavy saucepan. Cover with fresh water, bring to a boil, and simmer without a lid for 1 ½ hours, or until the skins are broken. Cooked beans will squash readily between a thumb and forefinger. Drain the beans. If using canned beans, drain, rinse, and use from this stage in the recipe.
• 2. Place the cooked beans in a large saucepan. Add the vegetable stock and celery bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Toss the beans with the dressing and leave to cool.
• 3. Add the chopped parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

COOK’S TIP:

• Dried beans that have been kept for longer than 6 months will need soaking overnight to lessen their cooking time. As a rule, the less time beans have been kept, the shorter the soaking and cooking they need. The times given here are suited to freshly purchased beans.