The Bean Scene

Navy Bean & Chickpea Salad

with sun-dried tomatoes and red wine vinaigrette

SOUND BITE

This tasty little number looks like an edible bowl of confetti, though you don’t need a special occasion to justify making it. Borrowing some flavor-infused oil from the sun-dried tomatoes adds punch to the vinaigrette. Bonus: You can store this salad in the fridge for days and it won’t deteriorate—it’ll just stay delicious!

Uses For Sun-Dried Tomato Oil

You know that rich, amber-colored oil left in the jar after using up the sun-dried tomatoes? 

Please don’t throw it away! That’s like tossing out the baby with the bathwater, an expression I’ve always found quite disturbing, to be honest.

Sun-dried tomato oil is bursting with flavor, and there are so many ways to use it:
1. Whisk it into salad dressings (like I do in this Navy Bean & Chickpea Salad!). It adds a rich, tomato-y note that regular olive oil doesn’t.
2. Drizzle it over roasted vegetables. It’s an instant upgrade for boring cauliflower or ho-hum potatoes.
3. Toss it with hot pasta. Even plain noodles with garlic and cheese turn into something fancy.
4. Brush it onto bread, then broil! Hello DIY sun-dried tomato crostini!
5. Use it in marinades for chicken, shrimp or tofu. That oil’s been hanging out with tomatoes for months and it’s packed with flavor.
6. Stir it into hummus for a Mediterranean twist. Or swirl it into a dip and feel like a flavor genius.

Basically, instead of olive oil, you can swap in this stuff to pizzazzify your meals.

So next time you hit the bottom of the jar, don’t throw the oil away, put it to work. 

Re-use, recycle, repurpose and most importantly—refuse to waste good flavor.