Tabbouleh White Bean Salad

1. Beans - I've made this with white beans to make it look more like Tabbouleh, but any coloured beans will do just fine here, even chickpeas.

2. Dijon mustard - sub yellow mustard, or omit. Makes the dressing a wee bit thicker which is great for fine-grain type salads because it helps coat better.

3. Dried beans (navy, cannellini or other white beans) - you will need 1 1/4 cups of any dried white beans.

1 can = 1 3/4 cups beans once drained Recipe calls for 2 cans = 3 1/2 cups beans 1 cup dried beans = 2 3/4 cups cooked So you will need approx 1 1/4 cups dried beans (1.25 x 2.75 = ~3.5 cups cooked beans)

HOW TO COOK DRIED BEANS- soak in plenty of water (beans will triple in volume) 5 - 24 hrs. Drain bring to boil then gently simmer in a large pot of water with 1 tbsp salt* partially covered with a lid. The cooking time will vary wildly depending not just on size/type of beans, but also the age of beans. Fresh dried cannellini beans, 24 hr soak can cook = 25 minutes. Old large lima beans could take over 2 hours.

So start checking at 25 minutes, and the closer they are to being ready, check every few minutes because small beans can go from just under to overcooked within 5 minutes. They are ready when they're tender all the way through, if they are overcooked they can fall apart / disintegrate on the edges (also this can happen to lower quality beans).

4. Storage - keeps for 3 days, though the tomato does lose perky juiciness the next day. I also like to either hold back some dressing to give it a fresh drizzle just before serving, or else a squeeze of fresh lemon and drizzle of olive oil will do the trick.

5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 8 servings as a side. Excellent veg+starch side dish for meals, especially for warm days.