Bean Salad

Also known as Three Bean Salad, Five Bean Salad, Seven Bean Salad, etc. (In some quarters it's bad form to use an even number of bean types; I've heard it said an even number can mess with your bean Ch'i. Just sayin'.)

A bean salad dressed up with
red bell peppers, peas and onions.
(Image courtesy**)

This is another salad that can escape notice because of the somewhat atypical base ingredients—canned beans. It can also serve as a side dish and will meet most vegan standards. Essentially, this recipe is a marinade for beans; therefor, some post-assembly wait-time is involved.

Ingredients
~ Three (or more) 15 oz. cans, one each of any of the following: kidney beans, navy beans, red beans, black beans, fava beans, lima beans, green beans, yellow (wax) beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), pinto beans, soybeans, and in Half Cup amounts, corn (can, fresh or frozen), green peas (ditto), diced carrots (ditto again), diced (fresh or frozen) bell peppers (red, green, orange or yellow), diced (fresh) onions or green onions—or whatever strikes your fancy. Onion is probably the most common non-bean addition. Go for good color and texture variance.
~ Half Cup apple cider vinegar
~ Quarter Cup vegetable oil
~ Quarter Cup sugar

Preparation
~ Drain the beans well. If they are packed in a sauce, rinse them with water.
~ In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar and sugar and whisk together thoroughly to dissolve the sugar. Add the oil and whisk again. Taste the marinade and adjust the ingredients to your preference. Whisk again as necessary.
~ Mix in the beans (and what-all), gently. All of the beans and any other veggies should rest in the marinade; if you need more, whip some up.
~ Put the bowl in the 'fridge to chill for at least 90 minutes.

Serve
Drain about half the marinade (for service, we don't want the beans swimming in marinade) and put the beans in a serving bowl. A slotted serving spoon is preferred. Serve cold.

Variations
Limited only by your imagination. Both the vegetable ingredients and the marinade are primed for creativity. Pimento, diced avocado, sliced olives, sliced bananas (just kidding), diced chiles, diced jicama, minced garlic or, just before serving, add some diced pepperoni, ham or corned beef. Of course, there goes your vegan crowd.

;^)

Paczki – Polish "Doughnut Holes" the Easy Way

Traditional, carefully-prepared pączki

awaiting final coatings. Don't worry.
yours don't have to look like this.
(Courtesy **)

Pączki (pronounced POHNCH-kee) are a traditional treat on Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins). The recipe here, however, isn't traditional; it includes a major shortcut that should make this treat even more popular. Maybe they're not as good as some egg-rich dough recipes, but they’re still delicious, prep time is cut from hours to minutes and dishes and clean-up are practically done away with, so there’s a lot to like.

Ingredients

~ Pot of hot oil for deep frying, 350^o-360^o (F) Maximum caution when using hot oil, especially if kids are in the area.

~ 1 (or more) 7.5 ounce refrigerator breakfast biscuits tubes. These smaller-size biscuits work best. They’re ten to a tube and the tubes often come in packs of four.

~ Powdered (confectioner) sugar, a bunch

~ A lunch-sack size paper bag (or a large bowl)

~ Pot of coffee, large glass of milk, or even apple cider to accompany the eating

Preparation

~ Open the biscuits, separate them and allow them to rest at room temp for 10-15 minutes (allows better rise). Don’t mash or handle them more than necessary.

~ Heat the oil to temp.

~ This next part will happen fast, so you’ll want to have handy a spider, large slotted spoon or tongs to retrieve the pączki from the hot oil and some brown paper or paper towels on which to drain them afterward.

~ Assuming a full-sized pot (if smaller, “fry-baby” size, go with two batches), carefully drop the biscuits into the hot oil. Try not to drop them on top of one another.

~ After about one minute, flip or prod a biscuit to turn it over. We’re looking for a dark brown carmelized color (color = flavor). If it’s not there yet, turn it back for another half minute, then check another biscuit. Frying time can vary depending on unspecified factors. When good color is achieved, flip all the biscuits and fry for not-quite the same length of time.

~ Remove the pączki to the draining paper. Allow to drain about a minute.

~ Put ¼ Cup powdered sugar in the paper sack.

~ Drop three pączki in the sack, roll the top tight and shake until the pączki are coated. Repeat with the remaining pastries, adding more sugar as necessary.

~ Alternate (Green) method: Think of the powdered sugar as what it really is—insulation. Pour a layer of the sugar into a wide-bottomed bowl. Carefully place the pączki in the bowl. Cover with another thick layer of powdered sugar. Now both warmth and flavor are retained by the insulating powder. (May even be eligible for energy-conservation tax rebates. Try including it in your tax return; let me know what happens.) Carefully probe for the pastries with your fingers, then lift carefully, retaining maximum sugar coverage (and R-value) right to your mouth. After biting, quickly dip exposed portion into insulating powder.

~ Other alternates: Pączki can be rolled in granulated sugar, sprinled with cinnamon, or even glazed. If you feel ambitious, you can pipe fruit paste into them.

Serve fresh and hot. Pączki’s peak flavor has a half life of about 20 minutes.

;^)