It wasn’t until a reader made the brilliant suggestion to add fresh basil and a crumbled or grated cheese that I realized that I had forgotten to write that I had crumbled in a very thick slice of feta cheese.

or would that be Cheapa?  It’s confusing…

Do you ever eat out or pick up something at the deli and say “Sure wish this XXX wasn’t so expensive, ’cause it’s really good!”?  Well, natch, you did.  I had some fantastic white bean salad from a deli priced at $5.49 a pound – I can assure you that even with a Groupon it’s a trifle pricey for beans.  So I trudged down to my stockpile and brought up my ingredients:  EE cannellini beans (added a Great Northern for funsies), EE diced tomatoes with celery and Jewel brand mild green chiles.  I added a couple of small bell peppers from the garden and balsamic vinegar, olive oil with salt, pepper and herbs de Provence to taste.  Oh, and one whole onion, roughly chopped since this is supposed to be a rustic-type salad.

Here’s the picture of how it turned out.  I’ve placed it in a container in the refrigerator to marinate a few hours – otherwise the beans will just be bland.  Be careful not to over-season because things taste different when they’re cold – you can always add more you know!

And the best part about all this is that most of the EE stuff was almost free with those wonderful  store coupons!