This week on Serious Eats, Caroline declared the Cook and Tell theme to be “What’s in Your Pantry?”

With much to choose from in my ridiculously full pantry, I was perplexed for a while.  I wanted to use up as many items from my food stores as possible.  When I came across the cans of hearts of palm at the back of my cupboard, I knew I hit the jackpot. I am proud to report that I used up two cans of hearts of palm, one can of black beans, and a bag of quinoa from my pantry for this recipe.

And, yet it was still fresh and delicious with a nice balance of textures and flavors.  Tony loved it, and wanted it again for dinner.  Around here, I call that a hit.

Hearts of Palm Salad

Ingredients:

2 Cans Hearts of Palm - rinsed, soaked in water with lemon juice, drained, and sliced into rounds about ¼ inch thick

1 Can Black Beans - rinsed and drained

2 cups cooked Quinoa

1 Red Bell Pepper - cleaned, julienned and roasted (or use jar of red peppers in olive oil)

1 Avocado - diced

¼ cup fresh Cilantro

¼ Red Onion - sliced into thin strips

Toss quinoa with 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette (recipe below) and season to taste.  Arrange quinoa on serving plates in mounds.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette over hearts of palm, red onion and red bell pepper and toss  to coat.  Add avocado and black beans and gently toss to combine, adding more dressing, if necessary.

Spoon hearts of palm mixture over the quinoa on the plates, and serve.

Makes 2 large, 4 medium, or 6 small servings.

Vinaigrette Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Garlic Clove

3 Tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp Lemon Zest

1 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup fresh Cilantro

Preparation Method:

Combine first four ingredients in blender.  Slowly add olive oil in a stream.  Add cilantro and blend for a few seconds.  Taste.  Adjust seasoning, if necessary, blending briefly to combine.

Enjoy!!!