sweet-and-spicy three-bean salad

We had some friends visiting from Seattle, and one of them is vegan. I love beans anyway, so I didn't mind cooking a bit differently for a few days.

This dish involves no cooking whatsoever, though, just some chopping and mixing. Grab some canned chickpeas and kidney beans (or your beans of choice--a mix of colors is pleasant), and some freshly cooked or frozen chopped green beans.

I used Okinawan "black sugar" for the sweetener, and a chopped dried chili pepper for the heat. Mmmm!

You'll need:

• 2 cans (about 400 g each) of different colored beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup chopped cooked green beans (can be frozen)
• 1/4 cup chopped onions (can be frozen)
• 1/4 cup diced sweet peppers (I used a combination of red and yellow)
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. vinegar
• about 1-2 T. sugar
• about 1 t. salt
• about 1/4 t. pepper
• one dried chili pepper, deseeded and finely chopped

Do this:

Toss the beans, onions, chili pepper, and sweet peppers into a bowl. In a measuring cup, mix the liquid ingredients, sugar, salt, and pepper, then stir into the beans. Refrigerate all day or overnight.

The longer you let it soak in the cool tub, the better.

This was the first time I've added heat, and it was perfect.