Great Northern Bean Salad with Country Style Ribs

I got off the hook again yesterday and spent minimal time in the kitchen - don't you love weekends like that? The big guy and I took a trip to the library on Saturday and I've had my nose buried in a book most of the weekend. It's been lovely.

We collaborated on dinner last night and had grilled country style pork ribs along with a white bean salad and some tomatoes from our garden - freshly picked and still warm of the sun - juicy, ripe red tomatoes. OK so I'm rubbing it in. Only here would one be eating vine ripened tomatoes from their container garden in the middle of June. Don't get me wrong, they're small but oh boy do they ever taste good.  

 

The big guy put a rub of brown sugar, seasoning salt, garlic granules, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper and freshly ground cayenne pepper (also home grown) on some lovely boneless pork country style ribs. They got the rub down about an hour in advance of cooking, then were grilled over a hot fire for about 20 minutes before being coated in his special barbecue sauce. Five minutes later they were done to a tender moist interior and a wonderful crisp bark on the outside. I don't know how the man does it but he always has the same results in the barbecue department. He modestly says it's just luck but I know better.

He's a real tough act to follow but I did my best and whipped up a colorful and tasty bean salad that was just a touch out of the ordinary. A combination of Great Northern beans, minced sweet onion, roasted red pepper, black olives, fresh basil, parsley and marinated mozzarella, it was finished in a garlic Dijon mustard vinaigrette and had all the flavors and colors of Italy. Download Great Northern Bean Salad

It went very well with the pork and sliced tomatoes to complete our relaxed super summery Sunday night supper. Talk about a perfect ending to a perfect weekend!

Comments

[pam]

I love bean salads in the summer. Every summer I make plans to organize all my bean salad recipes, so that I don't have to go searching, but I never do!

[June]

They're so versatile aren't they?

[Mags]

You know how I loves me some beans! I'm going to have to try this recipe.

So, whatcha reading?

[June]

Mags - it was a pretty darn good invention out of what I had available. Just finished the book - David Baldacci's True Blue. Darn good read.

[Nanan]

Don't ya love the library? Love your food, yet again! Don't want to rub it in, but the folks here have been eating tomatoes from the garden for a couple of months now - hehehe - not me of course! My uncle harvested his red potatoes a couple of weeks ago! Yeah - we stay green year round and have banana plants and I grow pineapples! I call my marsh my lush semi-tropical paradise because we do get a day of freezing temps every year!

[June]

Lea - ok, my Canadian roots are showing again. It was still snowing up there the end of May! Anyway, I'm officially jealous! I want some of those red potatoes too, and bananas and pineapples....pineapples! You lucky dog!