Be sure to allow this salad to refrigerate for several hours and let the flavors mingle. This is one of those recipes that is always better the next day!

• Combine all the beans, green pepper, celery, and onion in a large bowl.

• Mix the sugar, vinegar, oil, salt, and garlic salt in a small bowl.

• Pour the dressing mixture over the vegetables and stir gently.

• Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Stir several times while chilling so flavors mingle evenly.

Bean and Lentil Trivia

Beans and lentils have been found in 5,000-year-old settlements in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Egyptian pyramids, Hungarian caves, Britain, and Switzerland, and in even earlier civilizations such as those in Peru, the Middle East, and eastern India. Beans and lentils are thought to have originated from the wild lentils that still grow in India, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries.