When I first made this recipe, my husband and I didn't like it too much. But something told us to try again, and it was a huge success. Here's how we made a recipe that we liked (and so did our family): 1. Cut the celery into small pieces and use two sticks instead of the one it calls for (this way, every bite has crunch) 2. We usually prefer green onions over red, white, yellow, etc. But in this case, we found that the extra crunch added by these varieties are essential. We used white onions instead of green, and that made a world of difference. Make sure to mince or dice very small; again, to get some onion in every bite. Eliminate the onion powder. 3. It was too vinegar-y for our taste, so we cut the vinegar down to 1/2 cup and that yielded a better balance with the oil. 4. Use olive oil, not veg oil 5. Use real minced garlic instead of garlic powder 6. Add salt 7. store the salad in tupperware that you can flip upside down, without leakage. Rotate it at least twice during the marination process. 8. After the salad has had a chance to marinate over night, drain off the excess dressing; otherwise the beans at the bottom will start to degrade. This sounds like more work than it is, and trust me the result is well worth it!

This is the best bean salad recipe I've tried in a very long time. I made a couple of substitutions - I used 2 Tbsp. of red onion for crunch instead of celery and then omitted the onion powder. I also substituted 1 lg. clove of garlic for garlic powder and added 1 tsp. of chopped chives. The dressing is perfect; not too sweet, just the right tang and the cayenne adds just the right amount of heat. This has definitely become my favorite.

I would rate this 6 stars = "can it get any better?" This recipe is definitely a "keeper" I made this yesterday with a few changes and got rave reviews from my friends. Substituted lima for garbanzo, medium sweet onion sliced thin for the green onions, medium green pepper chopped for the celery, olive oil instead of veggie oil and 1 clove garlic pressed for the powder. Didn't use onion powder or cayenne pepper. I would recommend to refrigerate it for at least 4 hours and flipping it over or stirring it several times while marinating, but overnite would be even better.

A very good bean salad. Many are too strong and pickle-y, but the dressing in this one is just right!

I've tried almost every 5 star three bean salad recipe on this sight, I wish I'd started with this recipe because it is the BEST ! I omitted the cayanne pepper for the kids, this salad is not to sweet like most. Wonderful recipe ! Thank you.

Very tasty dressing to this salad. I added cilantro, radishes, and green pepper. I also used fresh green beans instead of canned for added freshness and crunch. I made this salad for 2 separate dinner guests and both loved it.

I made this dish last night for lunch today...used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, but did everything else exactly as the recipe said. It was easy and tastes great! Thank you.

This is an excellent bean salad! Followed the recipe exactly except used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and omitted the onion powder. Usually bean salad is too sweet for me but this was great and we loved the little bit of heat from the cayenne! Only change I might make next time would be to also add some chopped green pepper for another layer of flavor. Will definitely make again! Update: Made it again using about 1/3 cup diced green pepper and black beans instead of garbanzos. WONDERFUL!

I was going to make 'Three Bean Salad I' but because I didn't have all the ingredients, I thought I'd make this instead. To be honest, I think I prefer the other one more - more variety of beans, plus I use fresh cilantro in it, which we really like. I did, however, like the honey and garlic in this one. Next time I will just use the things I like best from both recipes. Thanks!

I was looking for a bean salad and I found it! This is great and the dressing is wonderful. However, I did add 1 large clove garlic to the dressing, skipped the garlic and onion powders as I added green and red onions to the beans. Again, the dressing is wonderful and would be great on anything!