I know, I know, we’ve been down this territory before. How many damn variations of bean salad can there possibly be? But look at how pretty this one is.
You see those pretty bits of red? And that gorgeous green. Everything glistening with the dressing. It’s a lovely bean salad made even more lovely by being served in my grandma’s dish. These are the things that I really like. A simple salad, beautiful colors, plenty of fresh veggies, flavors that mix and blend.
Can I just go down this sentimental path for a second? I am writing this blog post about my great-grandma’s recipe, photographed in my grandma’s dish, while sitting in my other great-grandma’s chair. My daughter is sleeping in a bed with her head resting on a pillowcase that my mom made. Just think about how absolutely special that is.
Back to beans…and peas.
I absolutely did not use canned peas in this recipe. I can’t stand canned peas. Canned peas are terrible. For my taste, they are overly sweet and mushy. I opted for thawed frozen peas. They have a little more tooth to them and the color is nicer.
Pimentos. If you have never bought these before, they are in the pickle/olive area of the grocery store and come in a little tiny jar. I had no idea that these were also called cherry peppers, I assumed that was something different. (The church ladies at our old church made the best canned stuffed peppers out of these.) I did a quick internet search because I wanted to confirm that these grew upside down, but got lost and never did find that answer. If someone knows, let me know.
Flavor. Basically this can be as fresh or as processed as you feel like. My half and half mixture was pretty decent. The recipe says that the recipe keeps for weeks. If you are using fresh/frozen beans, I’d err on the side of caution. Regardless, I don’t think this salad will last that long. It’s not the Mixed Veggie Salad.
