A delicious light three bean salad that’s perfect with just about anything. 

Can you believe September is almost half over? I can’t. Seems this year flew by like none other. Although I won’t miss the 100+ temps we had mid-summer, I will miss the warmer weather and tending to my summer garden.  I love fresh veggies and that’s why this three bean salad was a summer staple for us.  Fresh green beans are the best!

My mom thinks I’m a bit odd since I love to grocery shop. I hate, hate, hate clothes shopping, but if something is needed at the grocery store, I’m the first one to go.  I’m a foodie. I admit it. I like to wander up and down the aisles to look for new products  and also find good grocery sales. And get fresh produce.

But, being female, most people think I’ve lost my marbles when I tell them I hate to clothes shop. Really, I find it so frustrating and quite frankly, the lighting in dressing rooms is NOT flattering. And the mall… let’s not even go there!  The local mall here is full of “Kiosk People.”  You know who they are…. their booths line the center of the wide aisles and the employees walk right up to you to sell their stuff. I find it so annoying! So when a coworker told me about StitchFix, I was instantly hooked.

So off topic a bit… StitchFix is a personal styling system tailored to your style, budget and lifestyle. You schedule your “fix” how often you want and then 5 pieces of clothing/accessories arrive at your door for you to try on in the comfort of your own home (with no department store bad lighting).  Then, you keep what you want and return the rest. There is free shipping both ways.  How can I not like that? It’s perfect for me! Between full time work, my blog and a new business I started with my sister, I don’t have time to do the dreaded shopping. And look how cute it all is!

I got my first “fix” and I’m hooked. I see why they call them “fixes”… the term is most appropriate.  I liked everything and kept the whole StitchFix box. Oh, and if you keep the whole box, you get 25% off the order. And I do like a deal. And it gives me more time to grocery shop.

OK, back to this salad. Hubby is not a big fan of beans but I think I won him over on this one. I try to avoid canned beans, so I soaked the beans overnight in a pot of seasoned water and a tad of baking soda. Why the baking soda? Because it makes the beans softer and more creamy. I saw this technique on an episode of Rachel Ray and she was right. It made the texture better. And why 3 1/2 bean salad? Because I had a tiny bit of kidney beans so I just tossed them in.