Black Bean and Grilled Pineapple Salad

This filling salad is perfect for a light lunch or dinner and also makes a great side dish. The flavors in this salad scream summer! I like to eat this with some baked tostitos scoops, like a salsa! The salt from the chips with the sweet pineapple is awesome. This recipe starts with a grilled pineapple salsa recipe that I got from Cooking Light! I actually made the whole taco recipe and it was delicious, especially the pork! I had leftover salsa so I decided to add some black beans to make it into a meal that I could enjoy the rest of the week! The salsa is also great on its own, and would be perfect to serve on Memorial Day Weekend, or to bring to a BBQ this summer.


Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Black Bean and Grilled Pineapple Salad
Serves 6 as lunch or dinner, Serves 10 as a side
Prep Time: 30 minutes, Total Time: 40 minutes

Grilled Pineapple Salsa (from Cooking Light) 

4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices fresh pineapple

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

3 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 jalapeño, thinly sliced

 

To prepare salsa, place pineapple on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill for 5 minutes on each side. Coarsely chop pineapple, and place in a medium bowl. Add cilantro and next 4 ingredients (through jalapeño); toss to combine.

 

Once the salsa is prepared, add:

 

2 cans no sodium added black beans

2 diced vine ripe tomatoes

3/4 cup sweet yellow corn (fresh or frozen)

Extra Cilantro, salt, and pepper to taste

 

Gently mix until all flavors are well combined

**( the longer this salad sits, the better it tastes because the flavors really come together - I recommend making this a few hours or a day before serving, but this can be served right away as well)

 

Cut a Hass avocado into large chuncks and top salad with avocado before serving!

Serve with baked Tostito's scoops or other tortilla chips (optional)

 

Enjoy!

Pineapple Black Bean Salad

Banana Bread Protein Pancakes

I recently began experimenting with protein pancakes. Some of the recipes use protein powder, and some like this one rely on whole foods for an extra boost of protein. I found the original recipe on Peanut Butter Fingers , and found the adapted version I made this morning on Eating Bird Food. I was amazed how much these looked like regular pancakes but with three times the health benefits and loaded with protein and staying power. The pancakes are a little more moist in the middle than regular pancakes but it didn't bother me. I ate mine with some natural peanut butter and maple flavored agave nectar. Some sliced bananas or other fruit, or chocolate chips would be awesome too. These taste just like banana bread mmmmm :)

Banana Bread Protein Pancakes 
Serves 1, Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 5 minutes

1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (if you hate cottage cheese like me, or if it really freaks you out-- dont worry you cant taste it at all in the pancakes and there are no lumps!) 
2 egg whites
1/2 ripe banana
dash of vanilla extract
cinnamon to taste

Blend all ingredients using an immersion hand held blender, or if you dont have one you can use a regular blender. Preheat pan to medium and spray with cooking spray. Cook as you would regular pancakes (makes 4 medium pancakes). Serve with desired toppings :)

Yesterday I tried this recipe from Eating Bird Food which uses vanilla protein powder. I used my Sun Warrior Blend protein powder which worked well in this recipe. These came out well too but didn't resemble traditional pancakes as much in my opinion. These are lower in sugar and carbs if that is a concern for you. These pancakes must be cooked on LOW HEAT so that they do not burn and they require longer to cook.

I will probably rotate between the two recipes depending on my mood, both recipes are delicious and protein packed and can be enjoyed EVERY morning guilt free! Pancakes every morning? Yes please :)