white bean & tomato salad

I have had a little voice in my head for the past months that’s been whispering “summer’s coming”.  And mostly I’ve been listening to it, eating (mostly)healthy and trying to workout.  Somehow, though, I always manage to cheat just enough that I never see any real difference on the scale. You made brownies? Sure, I’ll try one.  Yes, I want fries with that.  It’s your birthday? Of course I’ll have a piece of cake(another of my personal life rules: always take a piece of cake at a birthday party.  The fact that that person is alive and wants you to celebrate with them should be more important than your diet).

  And this is how the winter went.  Exercise/cake/repeat.  And then the other day that little voice said “HELLO! BATHING SUIT SEASON IS ALMOST HERE!”. Holy crap, how did that happen?  I swear I went sledding last weekend.

  The only thing to do at this late date is cut out the carbs.  The bad kind.  The kind that makes everything tastes delicious.  Wheat, flour, rice…I will not be seeing any of you for a while.  Now this works, but…..if you don’t get creative with what you’re eating, these will be the longest days of your life.  Enter the bean.  High in protein and fiber, they will fill you up enough to resist all the other little goodies that want to come between you and your bikini.  And if this is not an issue for you, good for you!(really, I mean it).  You’ll still like this.  It’s bright and colorful and something different to serve at a party.  Because even if you don’t have a bikini taunting you from your dresser drawer, odds are most of the other people there do.

ingredients:

• 2 & 1/2 cups soaked cannellini beans
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/4 c. parsley, chopped
• 3 tbl. olive oil
• 2 tbl. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 salt
• ground pepper to taste

Mince the garlic and place in a small bowl or measuring cup.  Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir to combine.  Cut the grape tomatoes into quarters and coarsely chop your parsley.  Put the white beans and tomatoes into a large bowl.  Pour in the olive oil mixture and stir to combine.  Add the parsley last, and stir together.

The flavors in this salad really start to develop after a day or so.  So if you’re making it for a party, make it the night before and keep it chilled.  Hold off adding the parsley until right before serving.

You can use canned beans instead of pre-soaked beans if you want.  Just use 1 can and drain and rinse well.  Soaked beans double in size, so to get just the amount needed for the recipe, measure out 1 & 1/4 cups of dried beans.