Try this bean salad version instead
The Silver Palate Cookbook’s Chicken Marbella has long been one of my most loved recipes. The iconic dish makes use of many of my favorite ingredients, like olives, prunes, capers, and lots of oregano. In fact, the chicken itself is probably the least important component. Over the years, I’ve taken that same combination of punchy ingredients and “Marbella-fied” several other dishes, including roasted cauliflower, pan-fried pork chops, and, most recently, bean salad. I’ve found that beans are an excellent candidate for the Marbella treatment since they’re so adept at soaking up flavors. Since Marbella is an inherently vinegar-forward dish, a marinated bean salad is a no-brainer.
The very best beans for this salad are navy beans, which, yes, I am sort of obsessed with. (Remember this navy bean soup from January?) The petite beans hold up particularly well during the canning process, retaining their shape better than cannellini or butter beans. Plus their smaller size means the beans infuse with flavor more quickly once they’re added to a punchy dressing. That said, if you can’t find canned navy beans at your local store, substitute cannellini, butter beans, black-eyed peas, or even pinto beans. To build the salad, combine the beans with sliced prunes, olives, and red onion as well as a handful of chopped parsley and a spoonful of capers. I highly recommend Castelvetrano olives for their mild, briny flavor, but I’ve also used Kalamata and niçoise olives and enjoyed the salad just as much.
The dressing is a combination of red wine vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, and dried oregano—with a small dollop of Dijon mustard to help the mixture emulsify. In keeping with the spirit of the original Marbella recipe, this should be a moderately sweet dressing to complement the prunes and contrast the saltiness of the olives and capers. Once dressed, the salad should be left to sit in the fridge for at least an hour (but five is even better). This allows time for the flavors to meld and the prunes to soften slightly, releasing some of their syrupy sweetness. The final flourish is a handful of toasted slivered almonds, which should be added just before serving to retain their crunch.
Because this salad keeps so well, it’s one of my go-to recipes for meal prepping and one of my favorite packable lunches. It’s also the perfect potluck dish—I’ve brought this salad to at least three gatherings already, and it’s been a big hit each time. Something about the sweet and tangy blend of flavors makes people stop and ask, “Where have I tasted this before?” You can let them know it was inspired by an iconic chicken recipe, or you can simply shrug your shoulders and take credit for making one heck of a bean salad. The choice is yours.