Sometimes the Best Dinner Isn’t Planned

By Jennifer Whitmire, MS, MEd, MH, CHES, NEP

I get asked this ALL THE TIME, “What do you eat for dinner?” and people are usually expecting a recipe.

The truth is, many of my favorite dinners don’t begin with a recipe. They start with a few simple ingredients I already have in my kitchen. Maybe I have leftover beans from earlier in the week, I almost always have leftover roasted veggies, and there are usually some raw vegetables that need to be used before the next trip to the grocery store.

There could be a handful of fresh cilantro and parsley, and there’s usually a sauce or two that I made a day or two earlier.

Dinner almost creates itself.

I love meals like this, because they remind me that healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated. We think we need a completely different recipe every night, but most of the time we’re simply rearranging ingredients in different ways.

The black beans that topped tacos yesterday can become today’s stuffed sweet potatoes. The cilantro cream becomes tomorrow’s salad dressing. The chimichurri I made earlier in the week can add another layer of fresh flavor to a salad or roasted vegetables.

My goal is for nothing to go to waste.

One Meal, Many Plant Foods

If you’ve been reading my recent articles, you’ve probably noticed a common theme.

I’m much less interested in finding the one “perfect” food than I am in creating meals filled with a variety of colorful plants, and this dinner does that.

Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber. Black beans are high in protein, resistant starch, and more fiber. Bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and lime add color and their own unique vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.

The white bean cilantro cream adds even more protein while replacing the heavy dairy-based sauces that are usually on meals like this.

Because I happened to have some leftover chimichurri in the refrigerator from last week, I drizzled a little over the top. It wasn’t part of the original plan, but it sounded good.

Sometimes those last-minute additions become the best part of the meal!

My Favorite Kind of Dinner

One of my goals each week is to use what I already have before buying more. It saves money, reduces food waste, and usually leads to more creativity.

This dinner wasn’t on my menu.

I already had two sweet potatoes, a container of cooked black beans, fresh vegetables that needed to be used, and a batch of White Bean Cilantro Cream I wanted to try. Then I remembered I still had a little Garden Herb Chimichurri left from last week’s recipe.

Why not?

A drizzle over the top added another layer of fresh flavor, even more herbs, and more color to the meal.

The only thing I had to do was cook the sweet potatoes. 

That’s one of the reasons I love keeping staples in my kitchen. When I have cooked beans, washed vegetables, fresh herbs, and a homemade sauce waiting in the refrigerator, I don’t have to start from scratch every evening.

I just start putting delicious pieces together.

Loaded Sweet Potatoes with White Bean Cilantro Cream

Serves 2

Ingredients

Sweet Potatoes

• 2 medium sweet potatoes

Filling

• 1½ cups black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 3 green onions, sliced
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

White Bean Cilantro Cream

• 1 cup cannellini beans
• ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 garlic clove
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• ¼ cup cilantro
• Pinch of sea salt
• Black pepper

Instructions

Bake the sweet potatoes at 400°F for 45–60 minutes, or until tender.

While they bake, combine the black beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, and smoked paprika.

Blend all of the White Bean Cilantro Cream ingredients until smooth, adding a little water if needed to reach a drizzleable consistency.

Slice open the sweet potatoes and fluff the flesh with a fork.

Fill each potato with the black bean mixture.

Drizzle generously with the cilantro cream.

If you still have some Garden Herb Chimichurri in the refrigerator from last week’s recipe, don’t be afraid to drizzle a little on top. I did, and it was delicious.

Serve with a salad or steamed broccoli for even more color.

The Bigger Lesson

One of the things I’ve come to appreciate most about healthy cooking is that many of the best meals aren’t planned in advance. They’re created from foods that are already waiting in the refrigerator.

When we keep beans cooked, vegetables washed, herbs fresh, and a flavorful sauce on hand, we no longer need recipes and it gets easier to put foods together in ways that sound good today.

Ironically, that’s usually when we end up with an amazing, delicious dish.

Sometimes the best recipe is just knowing what to do with what you already have.