Video Demo:

Hi everyone, I got some great feedback on my previous post for making a healthy, delicious bean and chopped veggie salad, so I wanted to share some additional tricks of the trade from the real expert, the chef, my wife!

1. Shop at Aldi: If you have Aldi (or another bargain Grocery Store) near you, you can get good, quality ingredients for less! If budget is a consideration, please look around at your options.
2. Use some of the juice from canned, diced tomatoes: The juice from canned, diced tomatoes will add a nice pop of flavor to your salad, and it will also help it keep better in the fridge. Sometimes if you do not use enough liquid in these salads, they can dry out/soak up all the liquid in a day or 2.
3. Rinse your canned beans: Use a strainer and rinse your canned beans…unlike the tomatoes, there is not great flavor added from the water in canned beans.
4. Customize and make it your own! Variations and additions I’ve seen/tried include:
   1. Make it Greek! Add/sub Feta and Olives
   2. Add Avocado!
   3. Make it Black Bean and Corn! (Sub Black Bean, Corn, add Cilantro)
   4. Add chopped Garlic!
   5. Add Fresh Herbs!
   6. Make it Spicy! Add Jalapenos or Hot Sauce
   7. Add your favorite Humus!
   8. Use it as a side dish with your favorite Protein!
   9. Add your favorite Cheese!
   10. Eat it with Tortilla Chips!

The point is, try some stuff out and make it your idea of delicious, while being relatively healthy. My father in-law was shocked to learn that I would decline the opportunity to have drive through fast food, in favor of this bean salad for dinner. Now, I am not saying I don’t enjoy a treat once in a while, but this meal is part of my routine and delicious enough that I will not sub in a burger and fries when I know this is waiting for me.

One final pro-tip, make enough for the week! As mentioned, if you use enough liquid and have it in a sealed container, it can last your 4-5 days in the fridge (just give it a nice stir each day). Enjoy, have a great weekend!

It is really hard to eat healthy, right?? Time for meal prep, cost, and let’s face it a lot of times healthy food just doesn’t taste as good. I have a very quick hitter for you today, less than 10 minutes to read…and about 10 minutes to make if you want to try it out. Chopped bean and vegetable salad, in a base of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Here is the basic recipe my wife follows:

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp sea salt
¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup diced cucumber
½ cup diced red bell pepper
¼ cup diced yellow bell pepper
¼ cup diced red onion
¾ cup diced tomato (from a can)
¾ cup cooked white beans (or from a can)
½ cup cooked garbanzo beans (or from a can)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, and you are ready to eat! You can use as a side, or a meal on its own, and it keeps well in the fridge. It is very customizable as well, you could add:

• Some humus
• Cheese
• Chopped garlic
• Fresh herbs
• Swap out beans for black bean, corn, cilantro

The possibilities are endless! The base receipt is vegan (vegetarian if you add cheese), gluten free, and you can make it organic or non-gmo based on your ingredients. Very low cost to make at baseline, but again you can add cost based on your ingredients. You can also customize the flavor to meet your preference be adding more/different natural ingredients and seasoning. Hope you enjoy!