#SugarFreeSeptember: 30 days of sugar-free recipes

Warm rice and black beans are mixed with a sugar-free creamy/tangy balsamic dressing sweet cherry tomatoes, salty feta, and hummus for a quick and easy weekday meal! It’s sugar-free, gluten-free, and even vegan friendly (who knew tofu feta could be so tasty)!

It’s day 12 of sugar-free September! Whoop whoop! If you don’t already know, I'm currently doing a Sugar-Free September Recipe Challenge, where I share sugar-free recipe versions of your favorite foods, while also eating no-sugar myself!

We’re coming up to the 2-week mark and I couldn’t be happier!

With all these yummy recipes I've been enjoying these past days, I can’t even imagine breaking my no-sugar September diet - my skin feels good, I have had practically no mood swings or crashes and my energy levels are through the roof.

Y’all it’s recipe time…

Today I've decided to do different type of sugar free recipe… a salad!

Hearty rice and black bean salad with hummus and tangy balsamic creamy dressing.

Salads are crucial for great health.

But I know that many folks out there don’t tend to like their greens, except when coated in some kind of salad dressing… packed with hidden sugar. Luckily that is why I have already shared my favorite go to super healthy and SUGAR-FREE salad dressing recipe (my sugar-free and keto friendly balsamic creamy vinaigrette) that can literally make the worse veggie hater scrap their salad plate clean.

It recently occurred to me that I should share my sugar-free go-to salad combo that goes perfectly with my dressing.

I don’t want to sound too crunchy here, but did you know that the combo of salad veggies and other ingredients you choose can really make the biggest difference in making a scrumptious delicious salad?

So with that said today’s recipe is for a hearty, filling, crunchy, scrummy sugar-free hearty rice & black bean salad that’ll keep you full, healthy, and happy.

This is actually super easy to throw together, without any fussy ingredients that you don’t have in your fridge right now.

You can easy throw a big batch of this together (tomatoes aside as I love those cut fresh) and let it sit in the fridge for a quick and easy weekday meal - great for zero wasters!

It’s so good to have on hand that this is actually the salad I used to prepare for a recent hurricane.

Yep.

I live in Florida (shout out to fellow Floridians!) and we recently had a storm scare with hurricane Dorian.

The power is notorious for going out for days at a time during hurricane seasons (it’s happened to my family numerous times, for a week even), so food-wise all you can do is fill a big cooler with and eat non perishables.

I made bowls of this salad to put in coolers in the event of a power outage as it’s something that will keep us full, and it’s fresh, vibrant and healthy.

Thankfully Dorian passed us, but the kids in the family were able to enjoy this salad all week (yes, my siblings love salad)!

It’s a wonderful combo of flavors (especially with the tangy dressing) and the textures are a super tasty combo thanks to the feta and hummus.

Also, feel free to switch the rice to quinoa for added protein or to mix in some salad leaves.

If you give this recipe a go, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @itsisabellem and using hashtag #sugarfreeseptember

Happy cooking!

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