HANDS-ON: 20 MIN. // TOTAL: 20 MIN. // SERVES 5
Delicious and filling, this grain-and-bean salad was created as a meatless dinner option, but it’s also good topped with cooked tofu, chicken, or shrimp, or served as a side dish. There’s no pressure to make the dressing. When short on time, I like using Tessemae’s Lemon Garlic Dressing. Another option is to add 1 to 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice to a basic olive oil vinaigrette.
1 (10-ounce) package frozen shelled edamame
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup chopped tomato or halved cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/3 cup chopped carrot
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup Citrus Vinaigrette (page 75) or store-bought lemon or Greek vinaigrette
1 Cook the edamame in the microwave according to the package directions. Let cool for 10 minutes.
2 Combine the quinoa, tomato, scallions, carrot, black beans, basil, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of the cooled edamame in a large bowl; reserve the remaining edamame for another use. Add the dressing and stir gently to combine. Store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
(SERVING SIZE: 11/4 CUPS): CALORIES 340; FAT 14G (SAT 2G, UNSAT 11G); PROTEIN 14G; CARB 40G; FIBER 9G; SUGARS 3G (ADDED SUGARS 0G); SODIUM 307MG; CALC 9% DV; POTASSIUM 9% DV
canned food sodium hacks
While fresh is ideal, canned is more realistic at times. However, the sodium in canned items is always higher than fresh due to the need for preservatives. Try these two tricks to significantly reduce sodium when using canned goods:
• Buy canned products that say “reduced sodium” or “no salt added.” You can always add salt or seasoning, but this allows you to control the amount of sodium added.
• Drain and rinse canned items to reduce the sodium by up to 40 percent. For beans, this often means ditching 200mg of sodium per 1/2 cup.