Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society Become a member!

Salad Fasting

Cold bean salad

Boiled beans with two kinds of onion, garlic, oil and vinegar, chilled well and finished with mint. Fasting food, and a summer dish.

Recipe from Донка Цапова · Mississauga, ON

Cold bean salad
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 30 min
Total
1 hr 50 min
Fasting
Suitable

Ingredients 9 ingredients

Method

  1. Soak the beans in cold water overnight, then drain that water away.
  2. Boil them in fresh water with the bay leaf, taking care that the beans stay whole. Salt only towards the end — salt added at the start toughens the skins.
  3. When cooked, drain them well and leave them to cool completely. Hot beans wilt the onion and the mint.
  4. Slice the onions into thin half-moons and the spring onions into rounds, and mix them through the beans.
  5. Add the finely chopped garlic, a little paprika, the oil and the vinegar. Stir gently with a wooden spoon so the beans do not break up.
  6. Leave the salad in the fridge for at least an hour so the flavours draw together.
  7. Garnish with mint leaves before serving. Serve well chilled.

If you cannot find it

Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.

Tetovo beans
Any large white bean — gigantes or corona; in a salad the big beans look better.
Vinegar
Red wine or cider vinegar; lemon juice also works and is fresher.
Fresh mint
Parsley or dill if you have no mint; a different flavour, but the salad stays bright.

More in this course

Cook something that is not here?

Send us the recipe as you make it at home. We read every one.

Send us a recipe

Send us a recipe

Write it as you would tell a friend. Somebody will read it and write back before anything is published.

Used only to ask you about the recipe. It is never published and never shared.

Every recipe on this site is published in all three languages. Write yours in whichever one you cook in — we will take care of the other two.

Is it fasting food?

Fasting means no meat, no dairy and no eggs. Fish is treated as permitted.

One per line, with the quantity.

Leave a blank line between steps.

Optional. One per line, like “Ajvar — roasted red pepper paste”.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 5 MB.