Call and Response: Four-Bean Salad

Tonight I joined the students, faculty, and staff of Out In Medicine for a potluck dinner. I tweaked a new-for-me recipe for Three-Bean Salad from Better Homes and Gardens.

The recipe called for:
1 16-oz can of cut wax beans, black beans, or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 8-oz can of cut green beans or lima beans, rinsed and drained
1 8-oz can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

I used 1 can garbanzo beans, 1 can red kidney beans, and ?? lb fresh green beans and wax pole beans, tipped, cut into short sections, steamed, and dunked in ice water. As you can see from the photo, there was definitely room in the mixture for more green or wax beans.

As garnish, the recipe called for 1/2 cup chopped green sweet pepper and 1/3 cup chopped red onion. I had neither and dispensed with both.

For the dressing, the recipe called for
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tbsp salad oil
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 clove minced garlic

I used 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp wet spicy mustard, and 1 tbsp dried garlic flakes.

When I asked what another guest thought, the response was "Good!" He's the only one I saw eating it, which I don't take as a slight, because there was SO. MUCH. FOOD. at this party. Also, that one guest told me the dish was a real winner, since he doesn't really like chickpeas but he did like this. How's that for an endorsement?!