• Course: Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 hard-cooked egg (see NOTE)
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 2 oil-packed anchovy fillets
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

• 3 cups white beans, such as runner cannellini, cellini or marrow; soaked, cooked, then well drained and warmed slightly (see related TIPS on soaking and cooking)
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/4 medium sweet onion, cut into very thin slices (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Tender young escarole leaves, shredded, for serving

Directions:

For the dressing: Combine the egg, garlic and anchovies in a food processor; pulse until smooth. Add the red wine vinegar and process to combine.

With the motor running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream; process until the dressing comes together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad: Warm the beans and place them in a salad bowl. Add the bell pepper, onion and parsley, toss gently to combine, then add the dressing and toss to coat evenly. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Divide the shredded escarole among individual plates and spoon the bean salad on top of each portion.

NOTE: To hard-cook eggs, place them in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to cover them by an inch or two. Place over medium heat and heat just until the water begins to bubble gently but does not boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low and cook for about 8 minutes (or for 12 to 15 minutes from when you began to heat the eggs).

The new "Heirloom Beans" cookbook by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington (Chronicle, 2008) devotes four pages to the basics of soaking and cooking a simple pot of beans, but Sando has boiled the key techniques down to a three-minute video on YouTube.com.

Part of the reason these steps work so well is that he uses his Rancho Gordo heirloom beans, which have great flavor and great variety in texture and color. Excerpts, with cookbook information in parentheses:

- Rinse the beans (one pound).

- Soak for about six hours (in a bowl, covered with water by about 1 inch).

- When ready to cook, heat some oil in a medium pot (over medium heat).

- Chop up some carrot, celery and onion (all in big chunks) and smash some cloves of garlic. Add to the pot.

- When the vegetables are soft, add the beans and cover with water by about 1 inch (soaking liquid also may be added).

- Bring the water to a rapid, full boil.

- Reduce the heat to a mere simmer (medium-low) and allow the beans to cook, covered, for about 1 to 2 hours.

- When the beans are soft, add salt to taste. (In the cookbook, Sando recommends adding a scant 2 teaspoons of salt per pot that starts with 1 pound of dried beans. He cooks the beans a while longer so that they soak up the flavor.)

Recipe Source:

Adapted from "Heirloom Beans, " by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington (Chronicle, 2008).

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