I have a serious dilemma here in my house.  It's school lunches.  Because we both work outside the house, kid #1 eats her lunch at school.  She doesn't like sandwiches.  Because I'm cheap and too lazy to haul my ass out to buy something and usually don't have time to anyway, I have to eat my lunch at school too.  I also don't like sandwiches.
I will eat them when I have to though.  Two years ago I spent the entire school year eating lunches which consisted of two slices of whole grain bread, some cheese, some dijon, some lettuce, two slices of shaved deli meat and maybe a slice or two of tomato.  Sounds good doesn't it?
Trust me, after about January you start to get bored and by June the thought of another sandwich triggered my gag reflex.  Last year I did the same thing but with flat bread and cooked chicken breast.  Ugh!  This year I've got to get something goin' on.  Kid #1, she takes a thermos with homemade soup or pasta and sausage sauce (her favourite) or leftover quiche.  I am having trouble somehow with doing all this for myself.  Aside from a hard boiled egg my lunches so far have been paltry to non-existent.  I'm trying to fix it though.  Last week I went to the grocery store and bought some pre-made 3 bean salad from the deli counter.  Yeah... you know the stuff.  I know you do.  You look at it too, don't you?  And you wonder about it, right?  Well, I tried it.  It was ok.  I can do it better though.


So, I decided to get it in gear and make it.  I figure that I can just take a big container of it to work on Monday and eat it for two or three days straight.


I have a feeling I'll be doing lots of 'school lunch' posts this year.
Just a note here... I would definitely blanch the green beans for about 5 minutes in boiling water to soften them up a bit.

Wanda's 3 Bean Salad
(makes 4 school lunches ;-)

1 can Chick Peas
1 can Kidney beans
2 cups Green beans (2 inch pieces, blanched for 5 minutes)
1/2 cup red or green onion chopped
1/2 cup red or green pepper, diced small
1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs (parsley, chives, basil, oregano, marjoram - whatever's on hand)
salt to taste
cayenne to taste
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil


Mix the peas, kidney and green beans together in a large bowl.  Add the onion and peppers.  Mix in the chopped herbs.  Add the lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil.  Check the taste to see if you are happy with the oil/vinegar ratio.  Add in the salt and cayenne and check the tastes.
Lasts well in the fridge for a few days.


P.S. fits well into my lunch container too!