Hanover Three Bean Salad

The other day I got a craving for three bean salad. Usually it’s a mix of red beans, yellow and green wax beans (haricort verts). The sauce is mostly vinegar and sugar, which when done well balances sweet and acidic to make a refreshing side. It’s a food associated with the summertime.

In the U.S the salad is available at the grocery counter deli or corner bodega practically everywhere . For some reason I was compelled to buy it, not freshly made, but in a can. A can allows the freedom to open it whenever I thought. Fast forward to months later. It sat in the pantry collecting dust. Salad in a can = buyer’s remorse.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and finally opened it. The beans tasted fine but the sauce was syrupy. The sugar gave it a cloying taste. It poured out in a blob. Salad in a can = never again.

Awesome or Disgusting?
Verdict: Disgusting

Next time I’ll make it fresh or buy it from the deli counter like a normal person.