Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

By Kelsie Knerr, RD

This recipe is from The Pritikin Kitchen™ which follows the heart-healthy guidelines connected to Boone Hospital Center’s upcoming Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.

The salad is tangy and sweet, its sweetness comes from apple juice concentrate (apple juice without its water) and orange juice. These juices offer nutritional value through vitamins and minerals even though they do not have the fiber which whole fruit provides. The corn, red bell peppers and orange segments bring in more natural sweetness and fiber and mesh well with the more intense flavors of the apple cider vinegar, cilantro and red onion.

These flavorful additions make added salt unnecessary, make sure to choose the no-salt-added canned bean and corn options to keep sodium content low. You may also notice no oil is used in this recipe which keeps the total fat low as well.

Each ½ cup serving of this colorful black bean and quinoa salad adds 4 grams of satisfying fiber to a meal or snack. The recipe is vegan and uses a gluten-free seed called quinoa which provides 8 grams of protein per cup.

Tip: If you make a larger batch of quinoa you can freeze the cooked quinoa after it cools and use it at a later date.

Serves 5: ½ cup servings

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ orange, juiced

2 teaspoons apple juice concentrate

2/3 cup cooked quinoa

½ orange segments, chopped

¼ cup diced red peppers

2/3 cup no-salt-added black beans

½ cup no-salt-added corn kernels

2 Tablespoons chopped red onion

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, make dressing. Whisk together apple cider vinegar, orange juice, and apple juice concentrate. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, orange segments, diced red pepper, black beans, corn, chopped red onion and fresh cilantro.

3. Pour vinaigrette dressing on top of salad and gently toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts (1/2 cup):

90 Calories, 1g Total Fat, 7mg Sodium, 200mg Potassium, 17g Total Carbohydrate, 4g Dietary Fiber, 5g Sugars, 4g Protein, Vitamin A 11%, Vitamin C 39%, Calcium 3%, Iron 5%.