Healthy Eating when the G Cuts Your Paycheck
So… the government has shut down… again. Help us build a government shutdown meal plan. The prerequisites are:
- cost effective (on the count of no dinero)
- healthy
- easily accessible (no trekking up a mountain in Nepal for that one ingredient)
We’ll go first.
Black Bean Quinoa Salad
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 30 min
Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup dry quinoa yields about 2 cups cooked)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 clove garlic, pressed, grated or finely chopped
- Juice of one lime (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional for heat)
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained well
- 1 red bell pepper, quarter inch chopped (about 1 cup)
- 6 green onions, root removed, white and part of the greens chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 handful of cilantro, rough chopped (about 1/3 cup)
Recipe: Prepare the quinoa (see below). While the quinoa is cooking, whisk the olive oil, cumin, garlic, lime, salt, and cayenne (if using) together in the bottom of a large bowl to let the flavors marry while you chop the veggies. Rinse and drain the black beans, then chop the veggies; the key is to make the peppers and onions about the same size as the beans. Add the cooked quinoa, beans and veggies to the bowl and gently fold it all together with the dressing. The quinoa can be warm, room temp, or cold when you make the dish. Regardless, I suggest letting it chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes to let the flavors come together. It tastes best-served room temperature or chilled.
Buy organic if you can and go for it!
Help us out and please share any other great ideas.