Frugan: Sesame Beet Salad with Chia Dressing

I absolutely love beets! Their natural sweetness really satisfies any cravings I have, even when eaten in savory dishes. I made this simple mostly raw beet salad today in less than 5 minutes. I mixed my Sesame Ginger Chia Dressing  and my Habanero Sauce together and oh my god! It was soo good! Habanero and beets .. what an amazing combination. You have to try it! Cilantro, beet greens, sesame and sunflower seeds added the final touches to this amazing salad.

While sometimes it gets really boring and frustrating being such a tight budget, most of the time I have a lot of fun experimenting. Since I am budgeting not only finances, but also calories, my creativity is being used on a daily basis. I get bored easily. Creating recipes is so fun!

I remember over the summer when I first used beans in frosting. I had created a very low sugar gluten free chocolate banana cake for the restaurant I was working in and wanted a healthier frosting. I had cooked black beans and I ran with it. I was so happy with how it worked and it felt really good to provide a baked good that was so much healthier than the shortening/earth balance stuff I put out on a daily basis.

Speaking of black beans, I finally put my meatballs to use for dinner last night. They were hard as golf balls when I added them to the sauce. They simmered in the sauce for 25 minutes and when I served them, they were awesome! Not mushy or too hard!

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I added sunflower seeds to my beet salad. Sunflower seeds are so delicious and frugal! I paid $2.79/lb in the bulk section at a local grocery store.

Toasting them brings out a delicious nuttiness in them. I use a cast iron skillet over medium heat, add a couple sprays of olive oil and sprinkle them with garlic salt and chili powder. I stand over them and flip the pan several times making sure they don't burn. A couple T on a salad is all you need for a satisfying crunch.
I cooked up a pound of white beans in the pressure cooker. I am open to recipe requests using them! Feel free to email me ( melodypolakow at gmail dot com ) or leave a comment with anything you wish to see Fruganized!

Have a great day!