Whole-Foods Plant-Based, Sweet Potato, Asparagus, Black Bean Salad
A 30 minute, delicious, healthy, vegan, meal salad, with asparagus, sweet potatoes, dill, green onions, Dijon mustard, and black beans. Salad with a high proportion of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients) to calories.
My husband and kids really enjoyed it. It’s got some regular potatoes in there too, which taste great and make it more familiar.
You should make this recipe because it is a simple but sophisticated roasted potato salad. It has unique flavours and different textures, made from common foods you probably eat regularly.
Use Chia Seeds Instead of Oil to Thicken your Salad Dressings
This whole-foods plant-based salad dressing uses chia seeds, water, and tahini (sesame seed paste) instead of oil to make a nice thick delicious, lemon juice based, salty, citrus salad dressing.
Sweet Potatoes vs. White Potatoes – Which are Healthier?
See what the Cleaveland Clinic says: Sweet potatoes vs. white potatoes. Sweet potatoes win over white potatoes.
Both types of potatoes pack a powerful nutritional punch. But, sweet potatoes contain way more vitamin A.
Sweet potatoes also have more vitamin C, fewer calories, more fibre and fewer total carbs than white potatoes.
The Positive Health Wellness website also has some great info about sweet potatoes:
Why High Nutrient Density – Have You Heard of Eat to Live?
If you want to learn more about why nutrient density matters, Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD is an amazing physician resource for disease preventing foods – he invented the “Nutritarian Diet“.
I recommend Dr. Fuhrman’s book: Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss to help you choose what to eat. My mom gave it to me to read, and it changed the way I choose my plant based foods.
Here are links to look and buy the book on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. Highly recommend!
A formula he recommends in his book, that I use when I plan my meals is:
Health = Nutrients/Calories, or H=N/C.
In Eat to Live, Nutritarian Diet Dr. Joel Fuhrman recommends:
- you should eat mainly nutrient-dense, natural plant foods: vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds. Have a variety. Aim for foods with high nutrient-per-calorie density.
- Eat few, if any, animal products (a few servings per week at most)
- No oil
- Eat no or almost no foods that are empty of nutrients or toxic to the body, such as sugar, sweeteners, white flour, processed foods, and fast foods.
- Low calorie, low protein, very low-fat
- Super foods that you should include in your diet every day: G-BOMBS – greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, and seeds.
Dr. Fuhrman presents a lot of compelling evidence that our food choices control our health, can extend our lives, and prevent disease in ourselves, our children, and other loved ones.
What a gorgeous rainbow of salad!
Done in 35 minutes.
Vegan Asparagus Black Bean and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad - No Oil, 30 Minute Dinner
Instructions and Ingredients
Roasted Sweet and White Potatoes:
- 3 sweet potatoes medium, 1" cubed, skins on
- 4 potatoes small, 1" cubed, skins on, I used red potatoes
- 1/2 tsp salt 2.5 mL
- 1/8 tsp pepper freshly ground
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2.5 mL
Dressing:
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tbsp tahini 22 mL sesame seed butter)
- 1 tbsp chia seeds 15 mL
- 1/3 cup lemon juice 80 mL freshly squeezed if you can! about 2 lemons
- 1/3 cup water 80 mL the water should equal the amount of lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt (5 mL)
- 3 tbsp Dijon mustard (45 mL)
- 1 1/2 tsp agave syrup (7.5 mL) maple syrup or agave syrup or other sweetener, I like agave
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (2.5 mL) freshly ground
- 1 1/2 tsp dill dried (2.5 mL) finely chopped (sub 2 tbsp fresh)
- 10 green onions bunch, sliced
Steamed Asparagus
- 3 lbs asparagus 3 450g small bunches, see picture, ends cut off and chopped into 1” pieces
Beans
- 19 oz black beans can 540 ml drained and rinsed
- Preheat oven to 425F.
Prepare Potatoes
- Scrub and large dice the sweet and white unpeeled potatoes into 1" cubes.
- Spread over two baking sheets lined with parchment or non-stick mat or made of stoneware. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Convection Bake for 30 minutes.
Prepare Dressing
- While the potatoes bake, work quickly to prepare the dressing. In a 4 cup measure or medium bowl mix all dressing ingredients: garlic cloves, tahini (sesame seed butter), chia seeds, lemon juice, water (the water should equal the amount of lemon juice), salt, Dijon mustard, maple / agave syrup or other sweetener, freshly ground black pepper, dried or fresh dill, and green onions.
Prepare Asparagus and Beans
- When there is 15 minutes left on the potatoes, cut and steam the asparagus in a microwave steamer for about 8 minutes with about 1/4 cup water, until tender and still a bit crunchy, not mushy.
- When the asparagus is done, drain in a colander with the rinsed beans.
Combine
- Pour the dressing over the salad.
- Mix the potatoes, asparagus, beans, and dressing together in a large salad bowl and season to taste. Serve immediately, warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Initial inspiration for this recipe came from: Oh She Glows Asparagus and Potato Salad
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What's Special About VeganEnvy Recipes?
VeganEnvy recipes are easy, low-fat, whole-foods, plant-based and nutrition rich. Real food my family eats, and techniques we use to cook.
- less than 25% calories from fat, and no added oils (why no-oil cooking?)
- whole-foods instead of processed foods (why switch to whole-foods? Our journey 🙂)
- whole grains (how to choose healthy grains)
- low or no sugar
- high fibre (cure IBS and digestive issues)
- high nutrient plants, including fruit, greens, beans, legumes, soy, spices, seeds and nuts.
- no animal products, dairy-free (you don't need meat for muscle)
- no tricks (I am not going to say a recipe is healthy if it isn't).
I choose ingredients that are proven to prevent and reverse disease, based on scientific studies, such as those reviewed on nutritionfacts.org and findings published by whole-foods plant-based (WFPB) experts featured in the Forks Over Knives (FOK) and What the Health documentaries FOK trailer.
Eating VeganEnvy recipes will make you lose weight, look better, feel better and live longer. PLUS spend your money to cruelty free food systems, cut your environmental impact, and likely increase your compassion for, and awareness of, lives other than your own.
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