3-Bean Salad: A Tasty Thursday video

I don't know about you, but potlucks are generally less luck than pot, especially cruiser potlucks. How many different ways can you serve rice in small quantities? (For an amusingly apt picture of cruiser potlucks, listen to Eileen Quinn's brilliant take on them!) 

Salads rule at potlucks, and are generally the things scarfed up the fastest (since there are so few of them . . .) At a cruiser gathering, who wants to share limited precious fresh veggies with rice-bearing strangers? 

This salad is the kind of potluck offering, though, that's perfect for cruiser (and other) events. It's  gotten a bad name from all the buy-at-the-grocery-store versions; they're mushy, way too sweet, and look like someone forgot about them. THIS version, though? It's simple, bright, flavorful, and easy; and no, you don't have to break the bank with fresh veggies if you don't have them. The trick is crunch, which can be provided very easily with long-lasting carrots, bits of cabbage, bits of onion, or even water chestnuts.

Of course, if you have the fresh green beans? Use them!

Three Bean Salad:
Dressing:

• 1/2 small onion, chopped fine
• 2 HEAPING Tablespoons honey
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/4 c cider vinegar
• 1/4 c red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 lb fresh raw green beans (OR something else crunchy: radishes? Celery? Jicama? Water chestnuts? If you don't use these beans, add another type of canned bean to the mix to make the title work . . .)
• 1 can (or 2 cups cooked) black beans
• 1 can (or 2 cups cooked) white beans (northern, cannelini, garbanzo)
• OPTIONAL: parsley or scallion greens or other leafy herb

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the dressing ingredients. 
2. Prep the veggies: remove the stems and chop the fresh beans into bite-size pieces, drain and rinse the canned beans.
3. Mix all veggies in the dressing bowl.
4. Better if you let this sit for 6-12 hours or longer!