Mixed Bean Italian Salad

Last week, our CSA delivery came with a nice little surprise - a variety of beans!  There were green beans, purple podded, and yellow wax beans included.  So, immediately I was thinking of making a bean salad, but I also wanted to add kidney beans because I was thinking the colors would all be beautiful.  (And, kidney beans are a super food...)  I guess I must admit that I have not yet met a bean that I didn't like...  So, if beans aren't really your thing, this may not be for you.  But, if you are a fan of the beans, I loved this simple preparation. 

Ingredients
1/2 pound fresh green beans
1/4 pound purple podded beans (Can't find them? They taste like green beans - just increase the green & wax.)
1/4 pound yellow wax beans
1 15 oz. can of red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1/2 cup Italian dressing (Choose your level zestiness like you would on your salad!)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp  red onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp parsley (We had fresh flat leaf parsley in the delivery, but you could use flakes.)
1 tsp mixed fresh yellow rosemary and garlic chives (You could just sub italian seasoning, I'm sure...)

Instructions
Trim green, purple, and wax beans, and cut or snap into pieces roughly one inch.  Place into a small pot of water (make sure the water covers the beans) and bring to a boil.  Cook until desired tenderness, I like them a little crisp tender, so it took about 7 minutes once they were boiling.

This is where I had a bean buzzkill.  The purple podded beans turn green when they cook.  Boo...  There goes my four color salad...  Oh well.  It's just another reason to not worry about finding the purple podded beans...  :)

Drain the cooked beans and place them in a bowl, add the kidney beans and the remaining ingredients. 

Cover and chill at least one hour - it takes some time for the beans to really soak in the dressing.  It actually gets better as it ages.  Serves approximately 6.

This is meant to be a cold salad, but I took leftovers to work the next day, and absent-mindedly stuck them in the microwave with my pork tenderloin.  They were delicious hot, too...

Enjoy!