Looking for a salad to make ahead for the Fourth of July? This one tastes better if made the day before.
The name comes from Cairo, Illinois (pronounced Kay - roe), in an area known as Little Egypt, near the junction of the Wabash and Mississippi rivers. My first introduction to the salad was at a picnic near the docks where catfish were sold from the boats and cooked in a park with picnic tables.
If the name Cairo sounds familiar, you must be a Huckleberry Finn fan. Huck and his friend Jim were trying to raft across the Mississippi River from Missouri, a slave state, to Illinois, a free state. Cairo was the closest destination.
LITTLE EGYPT BEAN SALAD
Determine amounts by the number of people and your personal taste preferences. I was told, find a potato salad recipe and replace the potatoes with kidney beans. Or try my favorite variation --
Mix:
canned kidney beans
chopped onion, yellow or sweet
sweet pickle relish
chopped celery
favorite creamy salad dressing
MIX and put in a Tupperwear type container, and store in the refrigerator overnight.
Optional ingredients include chopped hard boiled eggs and parsley.
