Feta Fusion Rice and Beans

I had my first outing to a Whole Foods Market in Pittsburgh the other evening and brought home a number of lovely things, including golden and regular beets I made into a beautiful dish last night with a recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals. It calls for a simple dressing of vinegar, lemon, and toasted sesame seeds, and the beets were gorgeous in wedges.

This evening I needed a quick supper while grading final exams, so I brainstormed this:

FETA FUSION RICE AND BEANS
Makes 1 serving

1/2 cup rice (I used white but would usually use brown)
1/2 - 1 cup black beans (another color would work fine, too)
1/2 tomato, diced
1/3 cucumber, diced
1 scallion, chopped
2 T. Mediterranean Feta Salsa (from Whole Foods Market--a blend of feta, oregano, onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives, etc.)
2 T. hummus (I used Whole Foods Lemon Hummus), optional

Heat the rice and beans, then toss in the rest of the items and enjoy!

Verdict:  Excellent.  I really enjoyed this satisfying supper.  This includes no more than 1 Tablespoon of feta--I believe in the nutritarian option of using small amounts of animal products to enhance mostly-veggie dishes. Dr. Fuhrman says that if 90% of our calories come from whole plant foods, we can have these variations on the side.