Braai Life

Recipes / Sides

Three-bean salad

Kidney beans, butter beans and baked beans with onion and pepper in a sweet and sour curry dressing. No fire needed.

Coals
No fire needed
Prep
15 min
On the fire
3 min
Plan ahead
1 hour chilling, longer is better
Serves
6

Ingredients

  • 1 tin (400 g / 14 oz) red kidney beans
  • 1 tin (400 g / 14 oz) butter beans, or cannellini beans
  • 1 tin (400 g / 14 oz) baked beans in tomato sauce
  • 250 g (9 oz) fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 3 cm (1 inch) pieces
  • 1/2 red onion, finely diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped, optional

Dressing

  • 60 ml (1/4 cup) white or cider vinegar
  • 60 ml (1/4 cup) sunflower oil
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar, or 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Drop in the green beans and cook for 2 minutes.
  2. Drain the green beans and tip them straight into a bowl of cold water. Once cold, drain again and pat dry.
  3. Tip the kidney beans and butter beans into a sieve and rinse under cold water until the water runs clear. Shake them dry.
  4. Whisk the vinegar, oil, sugar, curry powder, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves.
  5. Add the rinsed beans, the baked beans with their sauce, the green beans, onion, pepper and chilli. Fold gently so the beans stay whole.
  6. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Fold once more before serving.

Done when: the beans are glossy with dressing, the flavour is sweet and sharp, and the green beans are still bright and have a snap.

Tips

  • Rinse the tinned beans properly. The liquid from the tin tastes metallic and dulls the dressing.
  • Do not cook the green beans past 2 minutes. Any longer and they go grey and limp.
  • Make it the day before. The beans soak up the dressing and the onion softens.
  • For a fresher version, drop the baked beans and curry powder and dress the salad with the juice and zest of 1 lemon, 125 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon English mustard and 3 tablespoons chopped dill or parsley.
  • For a warm version, fry the onion, pepper and green beans in 2 tablespoons oil, stir in 2 teaspoons curry powder, add the kidney beans and baked beans, and finish with 1 tablespoon chutney and chopped parsley.

Three-bean salad has been a picnic standard in the United States since the 1950s. South Africa adopted it and left its own mark: a tin of baked beans goes in, sauce and all, and the dressing carries a little curry powder. It costs almost nothing, keeps well and needs no fire.

It pairs well with curried noodle salad on a braai table, and like that salad it is at its best the day after you make it.