Black bean, sweet potato, and quinoa power bowl

Hello hello! I’m about to make your lunch meal prep or meatless Monday dinner a LOT more exciting. I can’t get over the amazing combinations of flavors in this meal. Inheritance is currently my favorite coffee spot, and occasionally I stop to get lunch and work. I have to be honest—I’m not usually prone to meatless meals. I typically just find them to be unsatisfying or unfilling. But I tried their black bean grain bowl and it changed my mind! So so good and really filling and satisfying. I decided I needed to make it at home for dinner, and BOY DID I DELIVER!! Not trying to toot my own horn, just really excited about how delicious this meal is. 🤪

It’s got a lot of different components, but each one adds a different element—crunch, saltiness, sweetness, acidity, etc. So although it takes some time prepping all the ingredients, the result is totally worth it. And it could easily be doubled for lunches all week. Just keep the ingredients separate in your fridge and then combine when packing your lunch. If you need a significant source of protein to feel full/satisfied or just feel best having an animal source of protein, chicken or fajita steak would be a really addition. And can I just point out all of the beautiful colors below?!?! 😮😍

If you end up making this, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Tag me @DonutEatingDietitian on Instagram. Happy eating!!

Yield: 4-6

Author: Ashley Smith, RD

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Black bean, sweet potato, and quinoa power bowl

This meatless meal is BURSTING with flavor and is perfect for a low budget dinner or lunch on the go.

Ingredients

• 1 cup multicolored quinoa, uncooked
• 2 cans black beans, undrained
• 2-3 large sweet potatoes
• Pickled red onions (see below)
• Magic green sauce (see below)
• Crumbled feta
• 4 cups kale, chopped
• Avocado oil, for roasting
• 3/4 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper

Pickled red onions

• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Magic Green Sauce *adapted from Pinch of Yum

• 3/4 cup cilantro
• 3/4 cup parsley
• 1/2-1 jalapeno
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 Tbsp pepitas
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• water to thin

Instructions

Pickled onions

1. Bring the apple cider vinegar, water, and salt to a boil. Pour into a glass jar or container and add the thinly sliced red onion. Let it set for at least 30 minutes to allow the onions to pickle and soften slightly.  

Magic Green Sauce

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water as needed, but be careful about adding too much and making it runny. 

Rest of bowl

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Prep picked red onions according to directions. 
3. Cut sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes and toss with avocado oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through, until potatoes are fully cooked and lightly browned and crispy. 
4. Cook quinoa according to directions (I use a 1:2 quinoa:water ratio).
5. Bring undrained black beans, onion powder, and garlic powder to simmer and cook until most of the water has evaporated and the black beans are thick and saucy. 
6. Make magic green sauce in blender according to directions. 
7. Chop kale and massage it with 1 Tbsp oil and 1/8 tsp salt. 
8. Once all of the components are ready, assemble bowl with kale, potatoes, quinoa, pickled red onions, green sauce, and feta. 
9. Enjoy!

Savory butternut squash pasta

You know what I’ve been digging lately? Pasta. Growing up, we never really ate pasta. And then in my eating disorder days, pasta had too many carbs for my brain to feel safe with, so I rarely ever ate it. If I did, it had to have a ton of veggies in it so that I felt full with as few pasta noodles at possible (I originally put “pasta” here, haha). So really it was veggies with some noodles. I now realize how sad that is, because pasta is delish. As I found more freedom with food, we still never ate pasta because it wasn’t something I was accustomed to eating. But THEN! THEN we went to Italy and I had the most delicious pasta dishes ever. 😍I didn’t think I liked Italian food, but boy was I wrong! Real Italian food is the best thing ever. We could learn a thing or two from those genius Italians. :-)

So now, as I’m meal planning each week, we pretty much have some sort of pasta dish every week. It’s easy, versatile, and delicious. We’ve been experimenting with different types of sauces and meats, shapes of pasta, and pasta ingredients. Sometimes we have whole wheat pasta, other times white pasta from Italy, and others, Banza pasta. Banza pasta is made from chickpeas, so it’s naturally gluten free. I’ve tried a few gluten free pastas in my days, and they are NOT all created equal. 😳Although Banza’s pasta has a different texture than regular flour pasta, Isaac and I really like it! It’s nice and hearty and holds up well, unlike other mushy GF pastas. I also like that it adds variety to my food intake. We don’t eat a ton of beans, so this easily adds another food group into our weekly intake. And because it’s made with chickpeas, I don’t have to plan a meat in order for it to have protein. Because if you follow me, you know I’m all about having protein, carbs, fat, and fiber at my meals (yay for satisfaction and satiety). It also makes throwing together a quick meal easy when I don’t have a plan for dinner and don’t want to go get additional ingredients.

Banza thinks that most new years resolutions (which I don’t personally do) are too serious, too stressful, and too hard to stick to. And I completely agree. They also think that in order to enhance your health and life, you don’t have to make life worse. I’m gonna argue that if your new “health” behavior is making life more stressful and less enjoyable, then it probably isn’t actually healthy. As a result, their current campaign is #ResolveToEatMorePasta and that is a resolution I can get behind 🤓.

You can technically make this recipe with any pasta you prefer. And serve it with a meat of choice, if you like. We ate this one night with pre-cooked chicken sausage for more flavor and texture. Prep your veggies and bacon (the bacon is key for giving it a savory, smokey flavor 😍) and roast them until fork tender. Meanwhile, soak your cashews in water and boil your pasta. Once the veggies are done, puree them with the softened cashews, nutritional yeast (or cream cheese, if you prefer!), and enough chicken broth to create a smooth sauce. Mix with your cooked and drained pasta, and viola! You’ve got a delicious lunch or dinner that is packed full of nutrition and flavor. I’d love to hear what you think of it when you try it!

Also, this sauce is delicious, so you could totally just add more chicken broth to it to eat as a soup, or you could put it on other carbs like rice or spread on toast. :-)

Quick summer time lunch

Heyyyy guys!! How are things going in your neck of the woods (who says that?)?? Over here in Oklahoma, we went straight from winter to summer with only a few days of spring. And to that I say, "BOOOOO!!". Spring is my favorite season. I love seeing all of the dead trees and grass come to life with a bright green color. And the weather is absolutely glorious--it's a break from all of the cold weather and instead has a nice crisp air that isn't cold, but refreshing. Welp, I only got to enjoy that a few sporadic days. Welcome to Oklahoma weather 🙄.

So because it's getting hot here (and because I'm pregnant), I'm craving lots of cold, fresh foods. Side note, I had Jason's Deli for lunch the other day with a friend for the first time in like 10 years, and the salad bar was SO refreshing!! I'm trying to remember what all I put in my salad so that I can recreate it, because it was super delicious. Do people even go to Jason's Deli anymore? I'm okay with the free ice cream that comes with every meal....🙋

Today's recipe isn't as much of a recipe as it is a guide for creating a delicious and easy lunch that can easily be prepped ahead for multiple lunches. I receive periodic packages from Bolthouse Farms (I was not compensated for writing this post) and the most recent package had their new organic vinaigrette dressings. I'm a big fan. I got this three herb and a lemon basil one. They also send us delicious juices and smoothies that Isaac loves as snacks (I liked their green juice one). 

For this batch, I used Banza pasta to give it more fiber and protein and really enjoyed the hearty texture. I also used some pimiento-stuffed green olives that we had on hand, but you could use any olive to give it a nice saltiness. Feel free to use whatever veggies you wish. I wish I had had artichokes, because I think that would be a nice addition. If you try them in it, you should let me know what you think.

P.S. Baby will be 17 weeks tomorrow and we find out the gender in 3 weeks. We are SO excited!!!

Yield: 4-5 servings

Author: Ashley Smith, RD

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Quick Summer Time Pasta

Ingredients

• 8 oz spiral pasta, cooked according to package instructions (I used Banza)
• 3 cups chopped veggies: spinach, broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes, olives, whatever YOU want
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Bolthouse Farms Three Herb dressing (amount depends on your preference)
• Squeeze of lemon
• 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Optional choice of protein: I think chickpeas or shrimp would be delicious in this!

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to directions and rinse in cold water to cool the pasta down. Chop your veggies of choice and combine with the pasta, feta cheese, dressing, squeeze of lemon, basil leaves, and protein, if using. You can eat immediately or leave leftover in the fridge for several days. If you are packing for lunches, you could put the dressing on the bottom of your container with the salad on top and shake right before serving.