Rancho Gordo heirloom beans

Steve Sando has cultivated a number of native bean varieties and sells them online at his Web site.

He has an astounding variety that run about $5 for a 1-lb. package. We order about half a dozen varieties each shipment.

These are dried beans, but very fresh, so it's usually enough to soak them the same day for four to six hours before cooking. Sando suggests cooking them together with a mirepoix to start the flavoring process.

Beans are a healthy vegetable protein that hot or cold can absorb many wonderful flavors. Sando also has a Heirloom Beans cookbook and as part of our Labor Day Colombian barbecue (see separate post) we made his three-bean salad. It was delicious, bursting with flavor, and well-suited to the flank steak and chile sauces.

Any bean that stays firm when cooked can be used (he suggests a number of them). We used a half-pound each of yellow Indian woman, cranberry and flageolet beans.

We cooked the beans separately with mirepoix. In a 400-degree oven, you roast plum tomatoes from a 14-oz. can, drained and drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, until they start to brown and caramelize, about 20 min.

Meanwhile, you saute 1/4-lb. diced pancetta until golden, about 8 to 10 min., then drain on paper towels.

You chop the roasted tomatoes and put them in a large salad bowl. You add 3 celery stalks, cut in half lengthwise and then on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick slices; one small sweet onion cut into quarters and then thinly sliced; 1/4 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley; and the cooked beans, still a bit warm.

For the dressing you whisk together 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, 1/4 tsp. dried oregano, 1/4 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 3 Tbl. red wine vinegar, and then drizzle 1/2 c. EVOO in while whisking to form the emulsion, add salt and pepper. Toss the salad with the dressing, check salt and pepper and serve.