White Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

This is a great salad to make for lunch, and it's particularly good this time of year because of the abundance of cherry tomatoes. They're sweet and tasty, and go perfectly with the light rosemary and parsley dressing. If you don't have cherry tomatoes, use very ripe tomatoes cut into small pieces, making sure to add the tomato juice to the mixture. It makes it better.

White Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

1 large can of white beans, Great Northern or canelli beans, drained and rinsed or 2 cups white beans
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig of fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 - 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup of lemon juice


Put the garlic and rosemary in olive oil in a small saucepan. Heat on medium until it begins to sizzle. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes, allowing the rosemary and garlic to infuse in the oil.

Remove rosemary sprig (if using fresh) from the oil, discard. Remove the garlic from the oil, reserving the oil. Add the garlic, Worcestershire, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and lemon juice to a food processor or in a small bowl. Pulse until smooth if using processor. If mixing by hand, mash with fork and mix until smooth as possible.

In a serving bowl, add the garlic mixture to the beans until they are well coated. Let sit for a few minutes so that all the flavors combine. Mix in the reserved olive oil, tomatoes, and parsley.

Serves 6 to 8.