Ingredients
1 cup dry chick-peas
1 cup dry cannellini (white kidney beans)
1 cup dry borlotti (cranberry or Roman beans)
1 cup dry black-eyed peas
1 cup dry green lentils
1 cup dry barley
1 carrot, peeled
1 stalk celery, rinsed
1 whole onion, peeled
1 bouquet garni (1 sprig rosemary, 2 whole peeled cloves garlic, 2 sprigs thyme, all wrapped and tied in cheesecloth)
2 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus 1/3 cup for the dressing
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon freshly grated horseradish
2 bunches of fresh scallions, rinsed and cut into ½-inch slices (white and light green parts only)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preparation
Soak the chick-peas, cannellini, borlotti, and black-eyed peas separately in plenty of water overnight. Soak the lentils and barley separately for 2 hours.
Fill a big pot two-thirds full with water. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and the bouquet garni, and put on high heat. When the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the borlotti. After 10 minutes, stir in the cannellini; after 10 minutes more, stir in the black-eyed peas. After another 10 minutes, stir in the barley, and after 10 more minutes, stir in the lentils. Add 2 teaspoons of the salt. Simmer until the beans are cooked but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Strain the beans through a colander, pick out and discard the vegetables and the bouquet garni, and spread the beans out to cool on a sheet pan, drizzling 2 tablespoons of olive oil over them and stirring them around to coat with the olive oil.
In a bowl, dissolve the remaining salt in the red wine vinegar with a whisk. Add the grated horseradish and the 1/3 cup of olive oil and beat with the whisk until the dressing is emulsified.
In a large bowl, mix the beans with the vinaigrette and the scallions. Finish the salad by grinding plenty of black pepper over it.
