Mediterranean three-bean salad

Plus, a Father's Day gift guide

Hi, friends. I didn’t mean to share a salad recipe two weeks in a row, but after testing the dish I was originally planning on sharing in today’s newsletter multiple times and still not being happy with it, I decided to pivot. Plus, it’s summer! Too warm to really cook (or maybe it is somewhere — in LA it’s overcast and chilly), too jam-packed with activities to spend too much time in the kitchen.

Which is why today’s recipe doesn’t require much of either. If you go with a rotisserie chicken like I did, the only real cooking you’ll be doing is blanching your green beans (use canned and you can eliminate the cooking altogether), and the prep is pretty much just chopping and mixing. But the taste? 10 — no, 11 — out of 10.

Tell me more

It’s a three-bean Mediterranean salad (I believe the kids call them a dense bean salad these days) that’s inspired by both the classic three-bean salads my mom would prep to keep in the fridge when I was younger and the juicy, lemony, crunchy, veg-packed salads we’d eat with kebabs and hummus in the summer.

The dressing is a zippy sumac, lemon, and dried mint concoction that has just enough honey to balance out all the sour notes, and it’s all rounded out with some chicken, feta, olives, and a ton of herbs. Lots of flavor, lots of texture, and it makes a pretty generous amount, so lots to go around.

Prep it for a few days’ worth of lunches, take it to a BBQ as a side dish, pack it for the beach, have it for a light dinner, make it for a friend who just had a baby — it’s a guaranteed hit.

But before we start, a Father’s Day gift guide

Dads are great but they are, in my humble opinion, incredibly hard to shop for. And the typical Father’s Day gift guide just isn’t very helpful or exciting in my opinion — fancy whiskey, fancy glasses to drink it out of, fancy ice cube trays for fancy whiskey in fancy glasses. Which is why I enlisted my husband, father extraordinaire to two extraordinary girls, for a little Father’s Day gift guide brainstorming session. We tried to include a variety of gifts and a range of prices.

An Ooni pizza oven seems like a gift that will keep on giving to the whole family. Let dad get a little obsessed with his dough recipe and cooking technique? Yes, please. The Koda 12 model is gas-powered and their most affordable option, though I can definitely see Denis getting very into the Karu 2, which can use gas, charcoal, or wood.

This Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo camera is an instant camera that looks like a classic film camera, and can be connected to your smartphone so you can have those little photos digitally, too.

Speaking of photos, you can’t go wrong with a framed one. I had a photo of Denis and Sasha printed and framed in one of these tortoiseshell frames from Framebridge for Denis’s birthday this year and the quality is just leaps and bounds above any other photo printing service I’ve used. I like to opt for black and white — classic!

We are big Material Kitchen fans around here, and these steak knives are a dream — razor sharp and nice to look at!

If dad’s into wine, this Coravin wine preservation system is nice, as is this Eto wine decanter (we have both and honestly use the Eto more, it’s just a bit more convenient!). Denis also really loves these Zwiesel wine glasses.

More into cocktails? This insulated cocktail shaker is perfect for super icy martinis and cold, foamy margaritas. Plus, the lid doubles as a measuring cup.

For the car guy who mentioned he wishes he had something to do in the evenings besides scroll his phone, the Porsche Lego set.

Our Jura espresso machine has had a prime spot on our countertop for nearly six years now, and is still going strong. They don’t make the exact model we have anymore (the A1 — RIP), but the ENA 4 is their new entry-level model. I love Juras because it does it all for you — grinding, tamping, etc etc etc — all you have to do is press a button.

If he’s already in love with his espresso machine, perhaps he’s in need of a chic new espresso cup and saucer. Porta has some really nice, minimalistic ones to choose from.

Back to the food! Before we start:

• I’m using canned chickpeas and lentils and fresh green beans. If you have other canned beans around, feel free to throw those in instead (or, in addition to!). Also, you can use canned green beans (my mom always did for a three-bean salad) to save a little time on prep.

• There is quite a bit of chopping here, but I promise it’s worth it!

• Sumac is a tart spice that is used in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures. It’s kind of lemony but also very unique in its taste, IMO. I grew up eating it in salads and it really adds such a delicious layer of sourness to dressings. Find it in Middle Eastern/International grocers!

• Dried mint is also very common in these types of cuisine. If they don’t have it at your regular grocery store, the Middle Eastern/International ones definitely will.

• You can easily make this vegetarian by skipping the chicken and vegan by omitting the cheese. Alternatively, feel free to sub in whatever protein — tuna, tofu, steak, sausages — sound good to you, or serve some grilled meat on the side, instead.

• This is good for three or four days in the fridge if you plan to prep it for lunch!

The recipe

Serves: 5-6

Ready in: About 20-30 minutes, depending on how quickly you can chop