This salad combines green and cooked white beans with crunchy carrots and juicy tomatoes for a light but nutritious summer dish.
Soak 1 C. white beans (any type) overnight. Drain and rinse, then cook in salted water until tender but not mushy. Drain.
Cut 2 tomatoes into dice about the size of the cooked beans. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt.
Thinly slice onion to make 1/2 C. Drizzle with 1 T. red wine vinegar.
Scrub and julienne 2 carrots as thinly as possible. Toss with the onions.
Trim 1/2 lb. green beans. Drop into salted, boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, remove them and rinse with cold water until they are cool. Toss with the carrot/onion mixture.
Remove the leaves from 1 bunch of basil and tear the larger ones in half. Add to the tomatoes.
Finely diced 1-2 T. pickled jalapeno or hot cherry peppers (optional).
Add 3 T. olive oil to the tomatoes and toss well.
Toss the tomato mixture with the green bean mixture, then add 1 C. or more of the white beans. Taste and season with more red wine vinegar and salt plus lots of black pepper.