Wanna-Be Three Bean Salad

Blanche the green beans and carrots in two small separate sauce pans (just put them into a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes then remove them from the water directly into a bowl of ice to stop the cooking). Add half of the garlic to each pan while blanching. (Consider adding a pinch of sugar to the carrots while they’re blanching; I think it really brings out their taste.)

While the veggies are blanching, soak the red onion slices in the red wine vinegar for a few minutes.

Add blanched green beans and carrots (along with garlic), white beans, herbs and onions in bowl. Toss with the following dressing:

For the dressing:

Whisk sugar, vinegar and oil together till sugar has dissolved. Taste and adjust seasoning depending on your love affair with sweet/sour, salty/peppery.

* NOTE! In a perfect world, I would use garbanzo beans along with the white beans. Unfortunately, they don’t play well in the sandbox with the Wonderfully Patient Spouse’s GI tract. Hence, just the white beans — and the moniker “Wanna-be Three Bean Salad.”