Tuscan Bean Salad

Have you ever eaten lunch at Costco? I don't mean that you've ordered a hot dog at their concession stand. What I mean is that, while you were pushing your shopping cart around, you stopped every few feet at the sample tables and helped yourself to whatever they were offering until you were full. Brian and I are definitely Costco diners although we rarely buy the product being sampled. We do spend quite a lot of money there, even if it's on non-sampled products, so I rather think they'd forgive us. And it's not that we don't think what we sampled tasted good. It usually does. But when we look at the nutrition panel of whatever it is, we ask each other how it's even possible to get that much fat and calories into that size container! But our dietary reluctance to buy doesn't mean we aren't inspired to cook.

When we were at Costco to stock up for the long Memorial Day weekend, we were treated to a delicious Tuscan bean salad served up on a tortilla chip. Delicious! And completely inspiring. I looked at the ingredients and realized I could make a healthy version of this pretty easily. So maybe we didn't buy a container of that salad, but we did buy all the ingredients to make it. Naturally I replaced the chemical name ingredients with actual food and seasonings and I probably cut the oil they used in half. But what was left was a serviceable copy of the salad and it was both good and good for you. Enjoy!




Ingredients

Salad:
1 Can (approx. 15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 Can (approx. 15 oz.) white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 Cup (raw weight) barley
1 Green bell pepper, finely diced
1 Fresh tomato, diced
2 Sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/4 Red onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon low fat mayonnaise
4 Cloves garlic, minced
1/4 Teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the barley in a pot and add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 30 minutes or until the water has been absorbed and the grains are tender. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Add the chick peas, white beans, bell pepper, fresh tomato, sun dried tomatoes, red onion and basil. Add the cooled barley, toss and season to taste. Makes approximately 8 servings.