Bean and Herb Salad with Lemon Vinagrette

This is a fresh, bright side dish. You could also have it as a light lunch, perhaps with some good toast spread with ricotta. Hmm. I have everything to make that in my fridge right now...
I made this to go with my glazed pork shoulder. It was an excellent counterpoint to the rich, sweet, fatty slow-cooked pork. The mint was a MUST. This made me resolve to use mint in savory preparations more often.

Ingredients:
1 package dry large lima beans or giante beans, cooked and cooled
1 bunch mint, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 small package / bunch basil, chopped
1 red onion, chopped or slivered
juice of 3 lemons
3 TB olive oil
Pinch salt and pepper

What to do:
1.  Cook the beans. You could soak them overnight, or boil, let cool, then simmer until done. I chose the second option--I boiled them, then let the water cool all the way, then simmered them for about 20 minutes, then ran them under cold water to cool them off. 

You want to beans cooked, but not mushy. I always use dried Lima / gigante beans. Whereas canned garbanzos taste great, canned lima beans have an unpleasant cafeteria-food taste.

Beans nice and fat after a simmer.

2. From there it's really easy. Chop all the herbs together and toss them over the beans. Slice up the red onion and put that in too. Juice the lemon over the salad, drizzle the oil on, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss everything together. Taste to see if it needs more salt or more lemon juice. 

Parsley, basil, mint, onion and lemons

Chopped herbs

The proportions in this recipe reflect how I usually cook--the thing becomes the unit of measurement--for instance, I use a whole onion, not a cup of onion. Whenever I buy herbs, I use them ALL. What is the point of using a teaspoon measly of any kind of herb?---you won't taste it, and you'll waste most of what you bought.

 This was lovely. This was only the second time I've made it. I am adding it to my regular rotation of sturdy salads.