Bean Salad

This comes from the author of Open Kitchen and she correctly identified me as someone who stocked up on dried beans during the pandemic. These are made with Corona beans, which are quite enormous and use two things coming out of the garden right now--fennel and garlic scapes. And tomatoes, if you are lucky, which we are not yet. This is suitable for a pot luck or a BBQ. For the dressing: 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped (1⁄4 cup) 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano 1⁄4 cup Italian parsley leaves, lightly packed 8 tablespoons olive oil Pinch of sugar For the salad: 6 cups cooked beans (see instructions below) 1 cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted and torn in half 11⁄2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 8 ounces fennel, sliced (2 cups) 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced 1-2 fresno chilies, sliced 11⁄2 ounces shaved Parmesan Fresh herbs to finish, such as chives, parsley, basil, celery leaves 1 In a mini food processor, blend all of the dressing ingredients until smooth. 2 In a large bowl, combine the dressing with the beans, olives, tomatoes, fennel, celery, and chilies. Top with parmesan and herbs. To cook dried beans: Cover 1 pound of dried beans with at least 4 inches of water in a large saucepan. Bring to a strong boil, turn off and let sit for at least 1 hour. Drain, rinse, and put the beans back in the same pot, and cover with at least 3 inches of water. Add 1 stalk of celery, 1⁄2 an onion with the base of the roots intact, 2 cloves of garlic, 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt, and bring to a strong boil. Stir and simmer over low heat until tender (time will vary depending on the type of bean you have, but these large corona beans took 1 hour and 15 minutes). Let the beans cool in their liquid until just warm, then drain and rinse them before adding to the salad.