Bean Salad withdraws from presidential race

The popular dish is endorsing Kamala Harris; hopes to land Cabinet post. Plus: Rancho Gordo's 'Bean Book' is coming!

Bean Salad, a Gen Z favorite with a devoted TikTok following, announced this morning it is dropping out of the presidential race.

“After the incredible enthusiasm expressed at the Democratic National Convention this week, we just don’t see any point in continuing,” said the Bean Party candidate at its Dallas campaign headquarters. “It’s been a fantastic campaign, and we’re forever grateful for all your support and hard work.

“Today we are delighted to announce that we are throwing our full support behind Kamala Harris, the next President of the United States. We don’t always agree on policy, but we do agree — and we think the American public agrees — that legumes need to be heard.”

Several pulses close to the campaign suggested that Bean Salad is negotiating behind the scenes for a Cabinet position — Secretary of Health and Hummus Services, possibly, or at the very least, Gut Microbiome Czar. In the past, Bean Salad has remarked that there ought to be a Department of Resistant Starch.

We’ll be watching this closely.

To celebrate the fact that the Bean Party is throwing its considerable density behind the Harris campaign, Bean Salad issued a new recipe: Way Better Three-Bean Salad.

Cooks Without Borders obtained a rough version of the recipe, which hasn’t been re-tested for measurements yet, but here it is. We’ve been eating it all week, and couldn’t be happier:

Way Better Three-Bean Salad

• 1/2 pound / 225 grams French green beans

• 1 can (15.5 ounces / 439 grams) kidney beans, drained

• 1 can (15.5 ounces / 439 grams) garbanzo beans, drained

• 4 stalks celery, sliced

• 2 scallions, sliced (both green and white parts)

• 1 smallish bunch Italian parsley, roughly chopped (go ahead and include some stems)

• Juice of half a lemon

• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon water

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Pinch of sugar

• 2 teaspoons dill pickle relish, or chopped dill pickled or cornichons

• 1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 teaspoons sumac

• A pinch or three of Aleppo pepper, Espelette pepper or chile flakes to taste

—> Boil the French green beans in a good quantity of well salted water, till they are crisp-tender, about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, drain well and put them in a large bowl with the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, celery, scallions and parsley.

—> Make a vinaigrette: Put the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl with the water and the salt and sugar. Whisk to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the relish or chopped pickles and whole-grain mustard and stir to combine. Whisk in the olive oil. Taste the vinaigrette and adjust, adding more salt, vinegar or olive oil if desired (we warned you this recipe is rough!). Add the dressing to the bean mixture, along with the sumac and Allepo pepper, and toss very well to combine.

You can enjoy this immediately, but it’s even better after it marinates in the fridge a day or two. It’s great on its own, or tossed into a green salad.

🫘

Rancho Gordo’s The Bean Book will soon be available! The exciting title by Steve Sando will be published Sept. 10. It’s a beautiful book, with descriptions of 50 heirloom bean varieties, an entire chapter devoted to bean salads, many great-looking soups (including a vegan yellow eye bean soup from California chef Jeremy Fox) and lots of braises and bakes, including a promising cassoulet. You can pre-order it now:

[Note: Cooks Without Borders may earn a small commission on purchases made through the Bookshop link above.]

That’s all for today. Have a wonderful weekend!

Love, Leslie