Fowur-Bazillion Bean Salad

OK, maybe 4-bazillion is a slight exaggeration, but you can put a lot of items in this salad. I made this bad boy Saturday morning for a family reunion Sunday.  I was headed to Nashville to the Midnight Jamboree (you can read about that little trip here on "This Gal's Fishing Adventure) and would not be able to cook nanner pudding or dumplings this time.

Marinated bean salads of any flavor/ingredient combination are awesome because they:

• Are great when you need to make a covered dish ahead of time because they need to sit and marinate to be good
• Honestly, they are not fit to eat unless they have at least set overnight with an occasional stir
• Are colorful to serve up anywhere
• Keep well  
• Come in many spice and herb flavor combinations
• I like it fairly simple as far as the marinade (dressing) goes
• Don't need the exact vegetable combination when it comes to getting the awesome flavor 
• I.e., raid the pantry people!
• Cheap to make
• Feeds a lot of folks

*Basic Recipe Ingredients:
1 each 8oz(+-) can lima beans
1 each 8ox (+-) can cut green beans
1 each 8oz (+-) can red kidney beans
1 each 8oz (+-) can bean sprouts
1 medium sweet onion, diced or sliced
1 green pepper, chopped **
2/3 cup vinegar***
1/2 cup oil****
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

In measuring cup, stir vinegar, sugar, and salt together until

Measuring Cup!!!

sugar dissolves.
Stir in oil.
Drain and rinse the canned items well.
Dump all the veggies into a plastic container with lid (sized to fit your goods).
Stir marinade again and pour over veggies.
Stir.
Seal.
Refrigerate over night. Stir when you think of it.

*Consider this:
I made mine industrial size for a family gathering. I doubled the above marinade recipe.
I added:                          

1 can cut sweet corn
1 can baby corn whole ears
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can green peas
1 half red bell pepper, chopped
1 half orange bell pepper, chopped
1 half yellow bell pepper, chopped

**The peppers added beautiful color. The garbanzo beans and whole baby corn ears added extra texture changes.  

***Vinegar types only matter in that white vinegar does not add that brown color to the finished dish.

****Oil types are up to you. I used canola because that is what I had. Light olive oil, corn oil, or.....  You choose.