Recipe inspired from here
I found this recipe for a beautiful Orange, Strawberry and Navy Bean Salad a few weeks ago. I put it in my "menu" list of foods for when I came back from vacation, but for the middle of the week.
I got back from beautiful British Columbia at 6:00 pm last night. Since I didn't get a chance to go to the gym last night, and I had a lot of time to burn during the day so I figured I would get some exercise in before my first personal training session (which is tomorrow morning), so that I'm not too much of a waste case when I go in. I have to admit after a week of doing absolutely no weight training - I skied my butt off, and did random exercises inside of my chalet, but it doesn't come close to my regular work outs that I do at the gym. After 45 minutes, I was definitely feeling the burn - /cough, I'm still really feeling the burn. However, despite not staying at the gym for an extended amount of time, it still felt great to be doing what I was doing.
When I came home, I had a monstrous Mango Mixed Berry Spinach Shake, and it was darned good. However, just like every time I finish doing weights all I want to do for the rest of the day is eat like a king. With that, I snacked on dill pickles, mango, chocolate soy pudding and then decided it was time to make dinner because truthfully every time I opened up the fridge or the cupboards all I was craving was junk food. Vacation is over, and although I only ate poorly once while I was gone, eating poorly is not something I enjoy doing, especially after I'd just recently done a work out. I decided that I would make myself a bean salad.
Although I didn't have all the ingredients as the original recipe suggested, I decided that I would still keep the concept but play around with the flavours that I had around the house. It turned out wonderfully, and it was just what I needed. In British Columbia, where we were staying food was incredddddiiibly expensive, and when we would go out, even though I was eating my vegetables they always seemed to be fried or seared in lots of oil which is not how I like to do things. Even eating fruits was very limited. Needless to say, I craved fruits and vegetables like there was no tomorrow, and when I came home those were certainly the first things I ate (along with some chocolate chip cookies, oops - but I blame my boyfriend, as he kept asking me to make some!)
This salad was exactly what I needed, especially because of the sweets craving - the fruits definitely filled that craving. The beans filled my protein necessity, especially a little while after my work out, I was still craving some. This salad was filling, refreshing, light filled with tons of nutrients and it was 100% healthy. I felt so good after eating this, and it definitely made me realize how much I love simple and healthy salads and how much, even though eating the healthy options at restaurants they never quite hit the same spot as cooking at home does!
Ingredients:
- 1 large tangelo minneola orange (or other orange)
- 5-6 large strawberries, chopped
- 1 can of white kidney beans - rinsed
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds - I used black
- 2 cups of thinly sliced spinach
Directions:
Start by peeling your orange with a knife, then cut it into slices and cut each slice into four pieces. Add that to a large mixing bowl, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Mix everything together until well blended. Sprinkle with more sesame seeds, if desired.
When you're craving junk food/sweets - what do you do to combat these cravings?
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