Warm Bean Salad with Fresh Herbs and Olives

For those of you who don’t go for the pork in your bean recipes, here is a  lovely salad recipe from The Splendid Table.

Ingredients

3 cups drained cooked white beans such as cannelloni, navy, baby white limas, or flageolets (reserve about 1/3 cup of the cooking liquid.)

Herb Dressing:

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fruity extra-virgin olive oil.
2 garlic cloves minced
½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
Scant 1/3 cup bean cooking liquid
½ cup black olives, such as Kalamata or Gaeta, pitted and chopped, or green olives, such as picholine or Barese (if using flageolets)
4 large fresh basil leaves, torn into ½ to ¼ inch pieces
2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

Place the beans in a medium nonstick skillet and set aside.

To make the dressing, in a small skillet, combine the olive oil and garlic over low heat, cover and cook until the garlic is soft, about 3 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to moderate, and add the rosemary and thyme. Cook until the herbs begin to sizzle and little bubbles dance around them; do not let the garlic brown. Add the bean cooking liquid and olives, increase the heat to high, and boil for 30 seconds.

Scatter the parsley and basil over the beans, and pour over the dressing, tossing to coat. Place the beans over high heat and toss frequently until they are hot and have absorbed most of the dressing. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm.