Today, I’m featuring the delicious handywork of Chef Brandon Canfield from The Loft Restaurant at Trader’s Point Creamery in Indianapolis, IN and sharing his amazing Five Bean Salad recipe.
My family enjoyed a Friday’s on the Farm dinner at Trader’s Point Creamery in the very early stages of our cross country road trip this summer. The hog roast was tasty and the summer succotash delightful, but the five bean salad was the unquestioned star of the show. We all devoured the vegetarian salad that was on the special al fresco menu that night.
I emailed the restaurant immediately upon returning to our downtown Indianapolis Hilton Garden Inn hotel, basically begging them to bequeath to me the recipe. After much long-distance arm twisting in the days that followed, they relented. 😉
Here is Trader’s Point Creamery’s insanely delicious Heirloom Five-Bean Salad recipe, courtesy of Chef Brandon Canfield, who walks us through the bean selection and the simple steps to prepare this vegetarian legume masterpiece:
Heirloom Five Bean Salad Recipe
“It is quite a simple salad, but the star of the show are the beans. I buy from Purcell Mountain Farms online. They carry numerous heirloom and organic beans. For the Five-Bean Salad we used [the following beans]:
Christmas Lima
Jacob’s Cattle
Anasazi
White Emergo
These beans were all soaked separately overnight, then cooked until tender in water. When finished, the water was seasoned with salt and the beans are allowed to cool in the liquid.
At this point, red onions and cucumbers were salted for an hour and allowed to give up their juices. To this, sugar, apple cider vinegar and Colman’s dry mustard was added. Canola oil was then whisked in and emulsified. Diced celery and fresh dill was added. It should be sweet and sour. (You will need a good amount of the dressing-enough to completely cover the beans. Probably 2 cups total for 3-4 quarts of cooked and drained beans.)
The beans were strained and dressed with the previous mixture. It’s ok if it is a little runny, as the beans will absorb this dressing. Allow to sit for at least 3 hours, better overnight. Taste and adjust salt and pepper before serving, being sure to stir well, while not crushing the beans.”
Read more about our Indiana family travel on Family Vacation Critic.
Scenes from Fridays on the Farm at Trader’s Point Creamery.
