We fell back on a family favorite for dinner tonight. Since we always have cooked beans in the refrigerator I used those to make a quick taco salad. I make these types of salads often because they are easy and very high in nutrition. For the greens I use baby spinach. Salsa is the salad dressing of choice for these salads. I toss the beans, bell pepper, dice celery, green onions and parsley with the salsa and place that on the spinach. A little more salsa is placed on the top of the salad for color. Halved cherry tomatoes are placed along the edges of the salad with a few tortilla chips on top. I omitted olives and avocado since our next dish had plenty of fat.
To go with the salad we had a few raw falafel with a cucumber, tahini and lemon sauce. Dan and I both think the falafel were okay, but it is not my best recipe. So …. I will be posting that recipe once I am happy with it. Sorry guys I don’t want to post a recipe I am thrilled with.
However to go with the falafel I made a quick cucumber sauce in the blender that we did like. It was very fast and here is what I did:
Cucumber, Tahini and Lemon Sauce
Makes approximately 18 tablespoons
Ingredients:
5 inches English cucumber, cut into chunks
4 tablespoons sesame seeds (or tahini if you aren’t using a high powered blender)
¼ to ½ fresh lemon juiced and zested
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Combine in your blender and process until smooth. This is nice creamy sauce with the unmistakable flavor of sesame.
Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving
Calories - 20.95
Calories From Fat (64%) - 13.5
Total Fat - 1.61g
Saturated Fat- 0.23g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 12.2mg
Potassium - 30.87mg
Total Carbohydrates - 1.37g
Fiber - 0.39g
Sugar- 0.2g
Protein - 0.67g
Comments:
This was an easy dinner from things we had in the refrigerator. There are days when that is the best way to go. I like the new cucumber sauce. It will also make a good veggie dip or salad dressing.
Unrelated notes:
I am going to sign off soon to relax before bed. I hope you all had a great Monday. I will chat with you tomorrow. Have a good evening.
Hey there! That salad looks sooooo good. It is Mexican Monday after all and I totally missed the boat tonight. LOL. Sorry the falafel didn't turn out quite as you'd hoped. I know you'll keep at it and perfect it though! Hope you have a great (relaxing) evening.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI started to ask you about what happened to Mexican Monday. Wasn't that your idea? LOL.
The falafel are okay, but not great. I want them to be great. I am definitely determined to get it right since we love falafel.
I hope you have a great evening too!
Alicia
Yep, I was having Pizza Friday and Mexican Monday for a while there. Guess tomorrow I could make up for it with Taco (Salad) Tuesday ;-)
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteLOL, that works. ;-)
Alicia
If I could eat tacos every day, I would be a happy girl. I'm happy that Lent is over because I gave up Salsa!
ReplyDeletebtw, do you guys use Amazing Grass? I have a giveaway going on for their energy bars, if that's something you wanted to try.
Molly,
ReplyDeleteYou gave up salsa for lent! I could give up chocolate far easier. I think I eat salsa on my salad almost every day.
Thanks for the heads up on the giveaway.
Alicia
This looks awesome!!!!! I love taco salad! I did not know about mexican monday, am I in the loop now?? lol
ReplyDeleteBrandi,
ReplyDeleteMexican Monday is something that Heather does informally, like her pizza Friday. I was teasing her since I did it (by accident) and she didn't. But maybe we should come up with a theme for one day a week and see who wants to participate. Mexican Monday sounds good to me. I know Heather will be up for it. ;-)
Alicia
Yep, definitely up for a Mexican Monday. Maybe Thai Thursday.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteYou were reading my mind. I was thinking Thai Tuesday. Your idea is better since the days aren't back to back.
Brandi,
What do you think?
Alicia
I love taco salads! Fresh cilantro mixed in with the lettuce really adds a nice flavor too :-)
ReplyDeleteCourtney
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteGreat point I should have mentioned that. I do the same thing when I have fresh cilantro.
Alicia