Costa Rica Salad with a Brazilian Twist

A few weeks ago I posted about the dinner my friends and I put on to raise money for the world hunger project.  I was so excited to tell you all about the dinner that I didn't even tell you what we ate.  Well, have no fear, I have that information for you right here!

After all of our eating out this past week, we decided we needed to eat fresh food this week -- and lots of it.  So I rummaged around in my recipe book -- AKA my brain -- and came up with fresh and light but filling foods.  Costa Rica salad was high on my list of fresh-and-hearty foods to eat. 

As you can see above, I start with beans.  In our house beans come in the form of dried beans that I cook in the pressure cooker, but you can use beans from the can if you want.  However, fresh beans taste so much better.  I always cook my beans with lots of onion, garlic, and two bay leaves.  And let me tell you, my beans are incredibly good.  My rice on the other hand, eh...  but you do need rice for this dish, so find a way to make it that works for you.  (I try to make Brazilian rice, with sauteed garlic and onion and salt, but it always come out half Brazilian/half Filipino.  Both styles are good, to be sure, but for rice you want one or the other.)

Ok, so now you have your rice and your beans.  The rest is simple.

Easy ingredients: Chopped cabbage, shredded carrots.  Make a dressing out of 3 T. olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, the juice of two limes, some cilantro, and salt.  Mix it all together and let sit for 15 minutes.

Then, when everything is done, pile it on your plate.  Beans first, rice on top, cabbage salad on top of that, and some sliced tomatoes to finish it off.

Simple?  Yes.  But fresh, delicious, and hearty?  Yes, yes, and yes.  And coming in under a buck per serving AND using no animal products, I consider this dish a winner.

Ingredients needed:
1 onion
1 head garlic
2 bay leaves
beans (canned or fresh)
1 1/2 cup rice
3 cups water
1/2 head of cabbage
3 carrots
1 tomato
1/2 bunch cilantro
3 T. olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 limes
salt to taste

COST: $3.65              COST PER SERVING (4): $0.91