How do you feel about beans?

Beans seem to live tauntingly on the edge of acceptability. Sneaky, charming little devils, like the kid in class who gets straight As without trying and spends the rest of his time cutting up - the teacher adores him and is exasperated by him but can never bring herself to punish him. People love beans - they're delicious and nutritious. People also have ... issues with beans, attributed, of course, to their sonorous end effects.

I am especially partial to chickpeas - garbanzos, cecci, call them what you will, they are the main ingredient in hummus and go with pretty much any side dish or salad. Chickpea fritters? Oh yes.

This weekend I was in a rush to throw together lunch for some guests - one of whom is allergic to dairy and wheat. (She has that stomach thing - something like "celiac" disease? - where she can't digest certain things ... it's very weird.) So pasta salad was out, anything with cheese was out, I had no meat on hand other than the cold cuts that were already being set out for sandwiches ... but I did, of course, have some cans of beans in the pantry. Everyone has cans of beans in the pantry.

Throw together one can kidney beans, one can black beans, one can chickpeas - rinse very well under cold water. Coat with a liberal amount of good olive oil, splash on some red wine vinegar, some rice vinegar (for the sweetness), generous cumin, generous oregano, chopped cilantro, diced red pepper, chopped scallions, and a few heavy pinches of fleur de sel. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally. Not too shabby! Easy picnic side dish that is devoid of mayonaisse and full of fiber and protein.