Gigante Bean Salad

I made this salad for my mother's 80th and for my son's graduation. It was surprisingly popular. Who can resist a giant cream-colored bean?

Ingredients

• 2 c. dry gigante beans
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 green, red or yellow pepper, or equivalent
• 2 T apple cider vinegard (or other)
• 4 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh herbs (dill, parsley, or cilantro) (optional)

Preparation

• Soak the gigante beans overnight (or all day) until they become plump. Then cook in salted walter (low heat, closed pan) for 1 - 2 hours, until tender. These are big beans -- they take a long time to cook.
• In the meantime, thinly slice the onion and pepper and toss them in about 2 t. rock salt/kosher salt. They will "cure" in the salt, effectively becoming tender without cooking. Curing means toss them in the salt, let them set for 1 - 2 hours, turning occasionally (like 2 - 3x at most).
• When the beans are cooked and cooled (you can save the "bean water" for adding to soups for extra nutrition + depth, if you like) toss them with the cured onion and pepper, vinegar and olive oil, and any fresh herbs you might want to add (optional).
• Note: test your mixture for saltiness before adding the water from your cured onions/peppers to the mix. You can add it if you need salt, or set it aside for a soup -- there's nutrition in there.

The salad can keep in the fridge for a few days. Make sure to toss it before serving to integrate the vinegar and oil.