I’m not sure if this is a salad or a bowl recipe, but it’s definitely healthy and delicious. And filling. And simple to make. That’s a lot of advantages, so let me tell you what’s in it. Although I also need to add that “never” the same thing twice is probably an exaggeration, but “rarely” the same ingredients twice definitely is not.
First comes the base: in this example, there’s whole wheat couscous and brown rice. I often use quinoa, whole grain pasta (orzo, especially, because of its size and shape), potatoes cut in small pieces, barley, ferro, teff, bulgar, millet, kamut or buckwheat. I just use whatever is cooked and handy and you can see that with all these choices, and their combinations thereof, it’s easy to vary it daily. Or almost daily.
Next, I add the goodies and here are some of them:
❄ Corn
❄ Green peas
❄ Garbanzo beans
❄ Black eyed peas
❄ An almost limitless selection of beans, like kidney beans, white beans, lentils, black beans, pinto beans
❄ Olives, both black and white
❄ Onions, especially the small green ones but the red ones are nice, too
❄ Cranberries and raisins
❄ I love seeds and this particular bowl has both pumpkin and sesame seeds; I sometimes add chia seeds, but not until I’m ready to eat because they absorb so much moisture that they will dry out my salad too much to suit my taste
❄ Whatever else I have in the refrigerator like green beans, broccoli, small amounts of kale – broccoli and kale has a very strong taste so they’re used in very small amounts so they don’t overpower the other flavors
The dressing is always extra virgin olive oil and I add vinegar: it’s almost always balsamic but occasionally I use wine vinegar
❄ And I’m also very generous with the spices, especially the tangy southwestern ones, like Mrs. Dash
❄ And no meal is complete for me without my pink Himalayan salt
Another personal preference is that I make my bowl several hours before dinner time and let it sit out at room temperature. The flavors are stronger than if I leave it in the refrigerator. You, of course, might not like that at all.
So there it is: a lovely, healthy meal that never gets boring since there are so many choices, and I’m always thinking of new additions. There are bound to be delicious little items that I haven’t thought of – yet – that will show up in the future. You simply can’t beat this for health and variety.
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