White Bean Salad with Basil and Vegetables

Drain and rinse one 15oz can of Great Northern beans. Pour in a bowl. Dice one large plum tomato and add to bowl.

Dice finely one small zucchini and one medium carrot. Place these in a pan over meduim high heat with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and saute for a few minutes until just beginning to get soft. Remove from heat and pour in bowl with beans.

Here's a fancy word for you- chiffonade two tablespoons of basil and add to bean mixture. What's chiffonade you ask? It's actually an easy way to chop basil so that it looks pretty, like small strands of ribbon. Here's how you do it:

Pick large whole leaves from a bunch of fresh basil. About eight will probably be plenty. Make sure they are well washed because basil can be very sandy. Making sure they are dry before you start, stack the leaves one on top of the other.
Then, roll the stack up like a, um, cigarette. Now slice thinly down the length of your basil cigarette.

Voila!

So, add the chiffonade of basil to your beans. Pour in two tablespoons of olive oil and two teaspoons of red wine vinegar. Mix together the salad and salt and pepper to taste.

This salad can be served cold or warm.