*Challenge Recipe*

For this week's challenge recipe (meal for 2 under $10, shopping at a local corner store), I decided to shop at Santana Foods- a local store on the corner of University and 5th Avenue SE in Minneapolis. I chose this location because it was both conveniently close to my house, and it has always caught my attention. I have driven/walked by the store many times before, but I had never been inside prior to this assignment.  Not only are there groceries at the store, but there is also a great deli with homemade gyros and hummus (the owners are Greek, and very kind gentlemen!), sandwiches, and other items including Sebastian Joe's ice cream. :) I must say, I am very glad I went here, and I look forward to shopping here more often in the future!

The store is very small, but has a pretty descent selection of foods. There are various beverages, some produce, and a somewhat large selection of boxed/bagged/canned items. I found it difficult to select a healthy option for the bulk of my meal. After searching the isles (all two of them), I decided to go with a rice and beans dish; this seemed to be the best option I had in terms of getting a healthy, well-rounded meal. There were a few vegetables I thought it would be fun to mix in, making the dish somewhat of a stir fry style. I bought 1 bag of rice, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of corn, 1 tomato, 1 avocado, and 1 garlic bulb for a total of $9.97. The meal is definitely nutritionally balanced, with sources of carbohydrates (rice), protein and fiber (black beans), some starch (corn), and healthy vegetables (tomato and avocado).

-ITEMS/COST-

Rice: $3.99,  Black Beans: $1.89,  Canned Corn: $1.79,  

Tomato (1): $0.47,  Avocado (1): $0.99,  Garlic (1 bulb): $0.84

TOTAL: $9.97

On my way back home, I was imaging how I wanted to prepare the meal. I knew there were some items I had at home that I could add to the meal- such as onions, olive oil, soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Listed below are the ingredients I used; both the bought items as well as a few ingredients at home in my pantry...

Black Beans & Rice Dish-

(Purchased Ingredients)
2 cups Rice
1 can Black Beans
1/2 can Corn
1 Tomato, largely diced
1 Avocado, diced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
 (Other Ingredients)
1/3 cup Onion, minced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

I really enjoyed preparing this meal. It was really fun for me to be creative and spontaneous with my cooking. Rather than creating a plan of how I wanted to prepare the meal ahead of time, I decided to just go with the flow and make the meal as I went. I knew I had to start with cooking the rice and heating up the beans, but the other items were a bit more spontaneously prepared. I decided to grill the corn on a pan, because I love grilled corn and wanted to give the dish that bit of charred taste.

I poured a little bit of olive oil in the pan, and put some salt and pepper in with the corn. After it had grilled for a bit, I decided to add some soy sauce to give it more flavor.

Meanwhile, I chopped/minced the tomato, onions, and garlic...

and added it all to the corn!

The avocado I bought was far too ripe, so I couldn't use it with the meal... but had it been ripe enough I would have added it to the top of the meal at the very end!

  Once the black beans were heated up, I added the corn/veggie mix in with the beans to create the "topping" mixture to pour on the rice.

The rice took about 15-20 minutes to cook, and when it was finished, I put some rice on the plate followed by the corn/bean mixture. I then dashed some salt and pepper on top, added a bit more soy sauce, and enjoyed the meal! 

The meal ended up being nutritionally balanced, filling, and very tasty! As I stated above, it was really fun for me to be spontaneous with my cooking and to just "go with the flow." Moreover, the meal was under $10.00, and though the challenge called for serving for 2, the end product definitely was enough for 4. Overall, I felt that this week's challenge recipe was a definite success for me! :)