Bean Salad

Well I was coming home from work the other night in the minivan (Dodge Caravan) with Claire and Marco strapped into their booster seats in the middle row, and the following conversation took place:

Claire: "Mommy, can you roll my window down?"
Me: "Sweetheart, you know the windows in the sliding doors don't open."
Marco: "But, Daddy does it!"
Me: "Well, Daddy does it in the car, but in the van, the windows can't open."
Marco: (ponders this for a minute) "If the windows don't open, how are we gonna go to restaurants ?!?!?!?"

Really though, I swear on my blog that my children eat healthy stuff MOST of the time! And to prove it... I brought them home and fed them frozen fish sticks and fries. Mario and I were going out to a restaurant... and not the roll-down window variety, either.

Seriously though, here is a nice healthy bean salad recipe that has been sitting in my draft posts for a few weeks waiting for it's 15 seconds of fame on my homepage...

This recipe came from my Mom, who analyzed her favorite store bought bean salad and came up with a copy-cat which in my opinion is better than the original.

Bean Salad

2 19oz cans bean medley
1/2 19oz can black beans
1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked and cut fresh green beans
1/2 cup cooked corn kernels
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 onion, chopped

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp honey dijon mustard
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloved minced garlic
3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1. Mix all the beans and vegtables in a large bowl.

2. Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and pour over beans and vegetables. Stir until all coated.

3. Best made one day in advance.