Light Southwestern Salad

Good afternoon, pals! Hope you enjoyed our protein-packed stir fry. I adore the world of stir-frys with this diet. You can pack it with flavor, loads of veggies, and, yes, lots of protein. Do experiment with stir frys! They are almost always, as my friend Kenzie would say, a “banger”. Today, we have a Light Southwestern Salad, also packed with protein and nutrients.

But first, I have a hot take for you all this afternoon: I enjoy my culture.

For one, I’m a midwesterner, and it is real that midwesterners are unusually kind. We make small talk with strangers, smile when we pass somebody, wave to the car that let us go first at a four-way stop, and generally assume the best of people.

I also love my American roots of high ambition and drive to succeed. My Type A personality is meant for a culture like the U.S. I love my independence to move away from home and pursue my goals, and the freedom to individualize my life.

But, there are things I have a strong distaste for in our culture. There’s a lack of patience, especially among my age group. I once heard a pastor say “you can’t microwave wisdom”, and it really struck me. We want so many things in our life to come in a snap; to be microwavable.

I also have a strong distaste for materialism. The holiday’s make me squirm. We spend so much money on “stuff” for people who don’t need it. One of my favorite Christmas gifts I ever got was a photo of two kids in coats. My Aunt Dede had given these coats to kids in need at a low-income school, and I got the gift of knowing that the money she would have spent on me went to someone who truly needed it.

Not to completely side track, but I highly recommend the next time you don’t know what to gift, give to a good cause in the name of your loved one.

Now, to the point. One of the things I have the strongest dislike for that I see every day in our culture is excess. In everything, but particularly food.

Ever ordered a “single serving” of fajitas at a Mexican restaurant? Yeah, try enough for three people. I love the portions at restaurants, but only because I am a leftover enthusiast.

But not everyone takes leftovers, and  endless amounts of food go to waste. According to Green Restaurant Association, a single restaurant can produce 25,000 to 75,000 pounds of food waste annually. Now, imagine how many restaurants exist in the country altogether.

Similarly, in the Western world and wealthy countries particularly, we consume meat and animal products in incredible excess. Our cuisine is stapled as a meat, a veggie, and a starch. A Sunday BBQ is almost entirely animal-based foods.

The government markets meat to us as a necessity--afterall, where would you get your protein without it?

But the facts state a different story.

In 2005, the average American consumed 279.1 pounds of meat. This is more than twice as much as the USDA’s recommendation of 125 pounds from the entire protein group per year, which also includes eggs, soy, nuts, and seeds (“US and international meat consumption”, 2012).

A serving of meat is supposed to be 3 ounces. About the size of a deck of cards. Yet, in America, it’s considered a “small” steak if you order 6 ounces.

Maybe even more squeamish is that 70 percent of America’s freshwater and grains are fed to farm animals instead of humans in order to meet these unhealthy, high demands for meat. Cattle in this world alone can eat the daily recommended calories for 8.7 billion people: more than the earth’s entire population. With 805 million chronically hungry people worldwide, we are putting way too many resources into feeding livestock.

I know that’s a lot of information to think on, so I will leave it there. My hope is that not everyone reading this is vegetarian or vegan. This information is valuable to all of us, and I appreciate the people who will read this and consider cutting back. Heck, if you’ve made it this far, I appreciate your genuine interest in my diet and the reasons why.

As I mentioned and hope to keep at the forefront, everyone is welcome here :)

In honor of using leftovers, today I happened to have some leftover quinoa and lentils. I incorporated them in a light, protein-packed Southwestern salad.

That being said, you could have more or less in your recipe! My measurements are simply based on what I had available.

Light Southwestern Salad.

Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2 (at the bottom of the post, I'll show you what you can do with the leftovers!)

What you’ll need:

For the meal:

1 red onion

1 green pepper

1 can (15 oz) black bean, drained and rinsed

½ large avocado

3 corn tortillas, cut into strips

¾ cup (approx ½ can) corn

½ cup cooked quinoa

¼ cup cooked green lentils

4 cups of spinach

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tbsp onion powder

Salt to taste

Optional: cilantro and/or lemon to garnish

For the dressing:

½ large avocado

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp unsweetened, plant-based milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp warm water

Pinch of cilantro

Salt to taste

What you’ll do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Once preheated, place the diced corn tortillas in the oven, separated well, for 10 minutes, or until crisp
2. Dice the onion, and put into a large skillet with the olive oil. Add the corn, and cook at a medium-high heat, stirring frequently
3. Meanwhile, combine dressing ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Feel free to add more plant milk, olive oil, or warm water to reach desired consistency.
4. Once onions start to become translucent, and corn starts to brown, lower heat, and add cooked lentils and quinoa to
5. Add spices and seasonings
6. Add a cup of spinach to each of the four plates; spoon out the skillet ingredients evenly; add dressing, and corn tortilla crisps to the top
7. Optional: add cilantro, a splash of lemon, and a pinch of salt to the top of each.
8. Enjoy!

Got leftovers? Simply heat them up, add some dressing on top, and cilantro if you have it! It makes a delicious Mexican Quinoa bowl :)