Deidre Kieko Todd has written several cookbooks ("DD's Table Talk" volumes I and II) and for many years coordinated cooking demonstrations in the Liberty House (now Macy's) exhibition kitchen.

Once, when she was showing me how to make a simple crockpot dish, she described it as a "can-a, can-a, can-a" kind of recipe. I loved the phrase to describe the kind of dish that involves little more than a pot or casserole dish, a few canned goods and usually a can or two of water.

The other night, I made my husband's favorite "can-a, can-a, can-a" dish, which we call "the bean thing," and which just happens to be both healthful and versatile. You can eat it as is for a salad supper. You can cook some rice or barley or quinoa or some other whole grain and put it on top. You can take it for lunch the next day and eat it at room temperature. You can add cheese and bake it for a second-day casserole. You can fancy it up or just leave it plain. You can make part of it from scratch or use all commercial products. And it really involves no cooking at all. This is one you should teach your college-bound children, especially if they're in a vegetarian phase.

First, buy a can of every bean in the store: black, kidney, white (cannelini), garbanzo, lima and a can of corn, too. Also get a can of diced tomatoes. (All of these are in the 14- to 15-ounce range.)

Grab a large bowl. Drain each can in turn (I put a fine strainer over a colander in the sink because I don't want to lose any beans and I like to rinse off the canning juices briefly with cold water. Yes, I know there's a debate about whether you should eat the juices or not but I always suspect there's a lot of salt, sugar and chemicals in there. Besides, you don't need the liquid for this.)

Throw the veggies in the bowl once they're drained.

Pour over this perhaps a third of a cup of your favorite oil and vinegar dressing — regular or diet, doesn't matter.

My husband is partial to Newman's Own balsamic but we've also used Caesar-type dressings, creamy Italian with Parmesan, even Asian-style miso and soy dressings. Heck, you could even add Thousand Island.

Toss the salad lightly so as not to crush the beans.

Let the bean mixture marinate while you're cooking the rice or grains (brown rice is particularly nice with this). Turn the mixture gently every once in a while to distribute the dressing. Make a bed of hot rice or whatever, ladle some bean stuff over, add a green salad and you've got dinner. Sounds a little weird, tastes a little wonderful.

You can fancy it up with any of these additions, chopped or finely minced, to taste: capers, onion, fennel, cucumbers, radish or daikon, artichoke hearts, flat-leaf parsley (I ALWAYS use parsley), garlic, a little basil pesto, a squirt or two from those tubes of imported Italian tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, olives or pimientos, carrots.

The beans provide a creamy background to bright flavors and crunchy additions, but they're also good just as they are.

The other night, I made a dressing instead of going the Newman's Own route, whisking together 2 tablespoons wine vinegar, the juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon of Herbes de Provence (Italian seasoning would be good, too), 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, a squirt of sundried tomato paste (available at R. Field and other specialty stores), 2 teaspoons of sugar and lots of fresh-ground pepper and just a little salt. Be sure to grind the dried herbs in a mortar and pestle, or just rub them well between your hands. You can use fresh herbs (double the amounts), if you have them. Taste and make sure the acid-sugar balance is right.

Per serving, based on 12 servings and with my homemade dressing: 250 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 600 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 11 g protein.

I keep a full complement of beans and canned tomatoes in the cupboard at all times so we can have our "can-a, can-a, can-a" nights whenever I'm too tired to really cook. Try it.

Send recipes and queries to Wanda A. Adams, Food Editor, Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Fax: 525-8055. E-mail: wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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