Lunches during the workday can be a challenge for me…I don’t want to order in and I don’t want the same thing every day, but at 6:30 in the morning, if I haven’t planned ahead, it is going to be one of those two options.

That is why I like this recipe. The salad is easy to throw together, has a wonderful freshness, is surprisingly filling and can be conveniently prepped in individual containers for a nice lunch for multiple days. I haven’t tried it yet, but I bet it would be great over a bed of mixed greens topped with goat cheese.

I enjoy recipes like that offer a base like this recipe. That is when creativity can happen. You can play with flavors and ingredients to make it your own when you understand what flavors come into the dish and what flavors leave when substituting ingredients.

You could substitute basil for rosemary to change the flavor of the salad from a bold herb forward arromas to a sweet fresh light taste. Note – when subbing basil, you may find the salad not staying fresh as long. Basil is most complimentary when garnishing a dish and quite fresh. When it starts to brown, it’s losing it’s freshness.

You could use different finishing salts, different vinegars or different beans to mix things up. Use what you have to create something tasty and convenient when you’re on your way out the door to work.

Three Bean Vinegrette Salad

Ingredients:

16 oz garbanzo beans

15 oz black beans

15.5 oz white cannellini beans

6 stalks celery, halved and chopped

1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped

3 Tbls fresh parsley, rough chop

1 Tbls chopped fresh rosemary

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbls olive oil

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Preparation:

For the salad, drain and rinse the beans, and combine with celery, onion, parsley and rosemary. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients until sugar is dissolved and all flavors combined.

Dress the salad with vinegrette and serve or chill in fridge. Can be chilled for around 5 days for lunches, after that, it will start losing its freshness.

Happy Lunching!