This is a vibrant summer salad that feeds the eye as well as the soul. This recipe was adopted from a family friend. The very first time my mother and I tried this we fell in love. My mom and I tweaked the recipe to satisfy our taste buds. The hardest part of this recipe is opening the cans and chopping up the vegetables.
Some tips to make your salad vibrant and colorful:
- Pick 4 different types of beans, here I used black beans, red kidney beans, pinto, and cannellini. The different colors and shapes make it stand out. If you don’t like a certain bean you can always omit it or switch it up to something else that you prefer (i.e. garbanzo beans).
- Pick different color peppers. I used red, yellow, & orange in this recipe because they all provide a certain level of sweetness to the dish. If you love green pepper you can always substitute it with one of the other.
- During winter time when the mangoes and the peppers are not as sweet you will have to add some sugar to the salad to bring out the overall balance of sweetness.
- Handle the beans with care while rinsing, they can fall apart very easily.
- Rinse the beans thoroughly under running water. This will take out all the salt and slim from the beans.
- Buy the low sodium canned products this way you can adjust the salt accordingly.
- Make sure all the Ingredients are fresh, as frozen mangoes and dried herbs will do you no good in this recipe.
- I am obsessed with cilantro and it goes amazing with all the ingredients in this salad, but if you do not like cilantro you can substitute it with parsley.
- I would recommend making this recipe the night before and adding the dressing right before being served. Sometimes when you add the dressing the night before it tends to wilt the cilantro and water starts getting released from the veggies.
Just because it says summer salad doesn’t mean you can only make it during summer time, these ingredients are readily available during summer. I make this year-round and it’s just as delicious. It’s a very simple, inexpensive, no-bake, make ahead recipe that is great for summer picnics and thanksgiving potlucks. It will make you the star of the crowd and everyone will ask you for the recipe. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do.
Summer Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 oz) Black Beans
- 1 can Red Kidney Beans
- 1 can Pinto Beans
- 1 can Cannellini Beans
- 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Medium Yellow Bell Pepper
- 1 Medium Orange Bell Pepper
- 2 cups Mango
- 3/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing I used kraft
- 1 tbsp Sugar optional if mangos are not sweet enough
Instructions
- Rinse all the canned items under cold running water and transfer into a large bowl
- Cube peppers and mango into small pieces. Combine it with the beans.
- Add the zesty Italian dressing and finely chopped cilantro and gently combine.
Notes
- If you end up with mangos that are not so sweet i would suggest adding some 1 tbsp of sugar to the salad to balance the vinaigrette.
- If you feel the salad is too sweet you can add 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice to balance the sweetness.
Delicious, sure hit for a party
I tried this recipe with beans that i prefer and it tasted good. I like how versatile this recipe is.