TURKISH WHITE BEAN SALAD

Note 1: This is one way to make piyaz. But there are many others, hailing from various regions of Turkey. For more inspiration, meet two other variations of this classic salad from two of my favorite Turkish food blogs: Piyaz,  Antalya Bean Salad.

Note 2: You can adjust the amount of herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and dressing to your liking.

Serves about 4

1  1/2  cups dried white kidney beans (cannelloni beans. Great Nothern beans OK, too), presoaked in water overnight
1 medium onion, cut in half lengthwise, then thinly sliced
a generous cup of fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup of more, to taste, olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice or red or white wine vinegar, to taste
salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
1 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into quarters
a few black olives, to garnish
paprika or sumac powder* to sprinkle on eggs (optional)

1. Drain the beans. Place them in a pot filled with water. Boil until tender (but not mushy!), about 1 hour. Drain and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

2. Put the onions in a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon salt. Rub with your hands until the onions release their juices and are soft. Rinse off the salt and squeeze the onions dry.  Add the onions to the beans.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the beans, too, except eggs, olive and paprika. Toss to combine.

4. Place on a serving platter. Decorate with wedges of egg and olives. Sprinkle the eggs with paprika or sumac.

* Sumac powder is the ground berries of a sumac bush. It is dark red, almost burgundy in color and has a tangy taste.  Available in most Middle Eastern/Persian/Turkish/Greek stores.