Salsa, Sloppy Janes and Goat Cheese

Happy Monday! Hope everyone is recovering from a great weekend and that your week is off to a wonderful start!

Last week I made a quick black bean and corn salsa in the evening so that we'd have ingredients for lunch the next day.

In a big bowl I mixed together:

• 1 can low sodium black beans, rinsed
• 1 can sweet corn (I'll use fresh next time but I was going for convenience!)
• 1 large handful grape tomatos, halved
• 1 yellow bell pepper chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro
• juice of 2 limes
• Sea salt and pepper

I stirred everything together and let it sit overnight so the flavors would blend together. The next day for lunch I scooped a couple huge spoonfuls over a whole wheat tortilla, cheddar cheese and avocado quesadilla.

It was a great lunch and the salsa recipe made a TON! This would be a good party recipe but it was almost too much for just the two of us to eat. I love leftovers for a couple meals but after that I get sick of them. Luckily Parker is a human garbage disposal :)

Reading Itzy's Kitchen last week I was inspired to fix some Sloppy Janes for dinner. Such a wonderful recipe idea and I just made a few modifications.

I started with a large sweet onion and sauteed it until the stank was cooked off. I love onions but if they are even a little raw I'm not a big fan. Stinky breath = bad news! When the onion was cooked down I added a chopped red bell pepper and let that cook down a little. I then added a can of diced tomatos, a can of kidney beans, 1 tbsp brown sugar, a few dashes of chili powder and cumin, some Frank's hot sauce, and salt and pepper. There was a lot of liquid so I brought it all to a boil and then reduced the heat to let the mix cook into a sloppy joe-type consistency.

Along with that I made (actually burnt!) some sweet potato fries and roasted zucchini. I added a little bbq sauce to dip the fries and some fresh romano cheese on top of the bean mix and zucchs.

Parker had his jane over whole wheat bread to make it more like the real deal. We both LOVED this recipe and it was a great way to satisfy a craving for a "meaty" meal without having to eat meat. We've both made the switch to veggie for the most part and it's been a great transition to encourage the healthy eating path we've been on.

I wasn't feeling up for cooking much of anything on Friday night, but was craving pasty after Rhodey Girl's salad pasta creation last week.

My version made enough to serve 4 and contained the following:

• 1/2 box Barilla rotini
• large handful grape tomatos, halved
• 2 c broccoli
• 1 c cauliflower
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 3 large carrots, chopped

After the pasta water boiled, I added the rotini and let them cook for about 4 minutes, then added the carrots and about a minute later added the cauliflower and broccoli. Zucchini went in last and I just stirred in the tomatos at the end. It was a great easy way to make a fresh, quick and delicious one pot dinner. Before serving I added salt and pepper and sprinkled some goat cheese on top. Goat cheese makes everything better.

Hope you're having a great day!