
Two items I have on hand most of the time are sweet potatoes and canned black beans. I usually buy the Simple Truth Organic Black Beans at Kroger. Black beans and sweet potatoes are a great combination when I’m in need of a quick, easy, and healthy meal. They both have a ton of fiber, antioxidants, and other nutrients, and are filling. And yes, I know, they are both high in carbs, but if you’ve had a hard workout that day, those carbs are going to be good for you. I like to add steamed or lightly cooked broccoli and sometimes fresh red bell pepper for a bit of crunch.
Here’s one of my quick go-to recipes for lunch or dinner that is perfect when cooking for one.
Sweet Potato topped with Black Beans and Broccoli
Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
1/3 cup black beans (rinsed)
1/3 cup cooked broccoli florets (sliced stems optional)
Ground cumin, coriander, chipotle chili powder, and salt to taste
Instructions:
Sweet Potato
Wash off skin of sweet potato. Then take a knife or fork and poke small holes in the potato around the surface. This allows the steam to escape while cooking and will eliminate the risk of the potato exploding. To make this a quick meal, I wrap the potato in a paper towel and cook it for about 3-5 minutes on a plate in the microwave.
Side note - If you do a bit of food prep at the beginning of the week, you could also bake a couple of potatoes and have them on hand throughout the week.
Toppings
Broccoli - While the potato is cooking, cut off stalks from the broccoli head and create small florets. I like to also use a bit of the stem for this as well. In a small saucepan, bring a ¼ or 1/3 cup of water to boil and add the broccoli. Cook the broccoli until just fork tender so you don’t lose much of the nutrients in the broccoli and it still has a bit of crunch.
Black Beans – Rinse the liquid from the black beans. Once the potato is mostly cooked (about 1 minute left), split it down the middle long ways and open it like you would a baked potato. Spoon the black beans over the top and put back in the microwave for the remaining one minute of cooking time, just to heat up the beans.
Once the potato and beans are finished, top them with the broccoli and sprinkle on the seasonings to your taste and mix around a bit to coat everything.
Enjoy!
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