A bright and hearty salad with a hint of heat that makes a great side dish to dinner, or a perfect, filling meal all on its own!

You guys know how I feel about Rancho Gordo beans as I included them in last year’s Gift Guide and made freaking amazing turkey stew with their yellow eye beans. So when I saw that they had a new bean I wasn’t familiar with – the giant corona bean, I just had to try it (despite the unfortunate name, eesh).  A bean salad seemed like the perfect way to serve this delish bean, so that’s exactly what I did!

The Royal Corona bean is a large thick-skinned runner bean that has a rich, creamy interior when cooked just right. These badass beans are an absolute must-try if you can get your hands on them. Rancho Gordo is currently sold out at the time of this post, but you can substitute gigante or cannellini beans.

I really loved this dish, it’s incredibly simple but has lovely vibrant flavors, so it became a surprise hit of an otherwise ordinary Wednesday night dinner! Once we can all part-ay together again, this would make a fun dinner party side as well – it’s unique, fun and filling!

Cook Time: 2 Hours

Ingredients
1 lb dry corona beans
1 tbs olive oil
1/3 cup pickled red onions (I use Gimme Some Oven’s recipe)
5 sliced radishes
1 minced jalapeno
1 tbs fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

First things, first:

Do you have to soak dry beans?

The answer is pretty simple as it’s really up to how much time you’ve got! Soaking the beans really only helps to cut down on cook time, so it’s not a must. If you plan ahead, soaking the beans overnight or putting them in water in the morning, day of cooking, will speed up the time it takes for the beans to be done. I actually didn’t soak these beans, so you do you!

To make this recipe, first rinse the beans under cold water and remove any grit or debris.

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with plenty of water and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring this pot to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook until the beans are to the doneness you prefer. This took me approximately 2 hours, to get a tender bean with just a bit of bite.

Once the beans are done, strain them and place in a large bowl. From here friends, you just add all of the ingredients into the bowl and toss together – using as much olive oil as you like, just so that it’s lightly dressed.

Serve it up as a side salad to a juicy pork chop or eat as a filling, healthy lunch. Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy. Oh, I bet a bit of lemon would be good too. 😉

Cheers!