White Bean Salad to Fight Humidity-related Fatigue in Summer

White bean salad is one of my favorite ways to fight fatigue and a case of the Blah’s in the heat and humidity of late summer. In New York City, most of August is a sticky soupy mess, with days of humidity at 70% and higher.

White beans help us cope with the humidity better, according to Chinese medicine theory. In real life, I find it works well. Additionally, white bean salad is delicious, so why not eat it?

Here’s my favorite recipe:

1 can of white beans (be sure to get Eden Organics or one of the other BPA-free brands; drained, but not rinsed)
Chopped red onion or scallion, according to your taste
Juice of about half a lemon (I think lime goes better with scallion)
Zest of the part of the lemon you juiced (or lime, if you made that switch)
1 tablespoon of raw cider vinegar (I like Bragg’s)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (get one that tastes good because you’ll definitely notice its flavor in this recipe)
Chopped parsley, according to your taste
Sea salt and black pepper to taste (white or pink pepper is also nice. Be sure to use salt sparingly; add more citrus if you feel flavor is lacking)

Toss all of the ingredients together and let sit for at least an hour so all the flavors can mingle. This recipe is even better the next day.

Enjoy!