A Diced Tomato and Pinto Bean Topping Becomes Two Different Meals!

Enjoy trying these two easy-to-make meals and salad variations.

Baked Potato with Pinto Bean & Tomato Topping:

I made this topping while talking with my daughter on the phone.  I had red potatoes baking in the oven.  “What should I use with pinto beans to make a yummy topping?”  “How about diced tomatoes, and maybe peppers – do you have onions?”  she replied.  “Hmm, no onions, but here’s some portabellas!”

Pinto beans,  mini peppers and diced tomatoes, on baked potatoes

Ingredients:

• Red Potatoes (2 small have 5 g fiber and 6.4 g protein!) – bake at 375*  (make extra for another meal, or snack!)

• Low sodium canned pinto beans

• 8 Mini sweet peppers thinly sliced (high in Vitamin C  & Beta Carotene!)

• Portabella Mushrooms diced

• Chilli Powder & Crushed Red Pepper – to your liking

Directions:

Place the pinto beans, peppers and mushrooms in a sauce pan, add seasoning  and cook on medium heat until peppers and mushrooms have softened.

Salad:

While topping is cooking, put together your salad – spring mix greens, strawberries, blue berries, orange is a delicious combination with 3-2-1 Dressing (see below)

Serve:

Place topping on baked potatoes and enjoy! (Be sure to leave the skins on your potatoes for nutrients).  And of course save your leftovers!

Reheat the topping with kale and serve over lentil penne for a different meal for the next night:

Ingredients for main dish:

Your left over pinto bean topping, Kale, Green Lentil Penne

Directions:

• Cook Lentil Penne as on box, meanwhile put pinto bean topping on low-medium heat

• Break the kale into pieces and massage with lemon juice (this tenderizes and gets rid of any bitter flavor).  

• Add kale to the topping, heat slowly until kale is wilted.  

26 grams of protein in this dish and wonderful fiber, vitamins, antioxidants,  and minerals

Green Lentil Penne Topped with Pinto Beans, Diced Tomatoes, Portabellas, and Kale

Create Another Salad Variation and Dressing

Spring mix, mini peppers, broccoli, orange and celery (include the leaves), break the orange into the salad last, so the juices flavor the salad.

Basic 3,2,1 Dressing – I first saw this in Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

1. 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2. 2 Tbsp mustard of your choice

3. 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

4. Pinch of white pepper (optional)

Combine ingredients and whisk until smooth

Experiment with different herbs and spices

I hope you’re having fun being creative with your own salad combinations and variations!!