Search

Academy: Personalize Your Plate During National Nutrition Month® 2021

Princess Lisa Cofie
Mar 7, 2021
2 min read

Happy National Nutrition Month my fellow nutrition and dietetics professionals! It is that time of the month where we are recognized for our hard work in our various communities. I was actually excited when I saw the Academy’s theme for celebrating nutrition this year. Personalize Your Plate, Yes! Personalize it! As we all know, our interventions such as promoting a healthful eating pattern is not a one size fits all endeavor, especially when our goal is to increase positive nutrition outcomes. This year’s theme was set in place to promote the creation of nutritious meals to meet individuals' cultural and personal food preferences. We need to debunk claims that eating healthy is expensive or developing healthy eating habits requires one to commit to drastic lifestyle changes. Instead, Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN’s), should encourage clients to use different varieties of herbs and spices and with traditional recipes, fine-tune these to suit their health goals by providing alternative methods of cooking and other healthful advice for incorporating family-favorite foods into everyday meals. Today, I want to share with you all a recipe that was used to honor National Nutrition Month at my clinical site; The Mediterranean Grain Bowl with creamy Tahini Yogurt Sauce.

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 English cucumber, seeded and diced
1 (13.4-ounce) package No-Salt Added Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8.8-ounce) package Quinoa and Bulgur Wheat Blend, cooked according to package directions
6 cups spring mix
1 avocado, quartered and sliced
2 medium red beets, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Dressing (Tahini Yoghurt Sauce)

This is a combination of Israel’s tahini sauce and yogurt, which brightens and lightens the tahini.

¾ cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 clove garlic, minced

Note: Combine all ingredients and stir well. Chill. Makes 1 cup.

Method

In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice and olive oil with parsley, mint, dill, salt, and pepper.
Add cucumber and toss, then spoon cucumber into a separate bowl, leaving the herb mixture behind.
Next, add the garbanzo beans to the herb mixture, toss to coat and set aside.
To assemble, place ½ cup cooked grains in each of the 4 serving bowls.
Add spring mix to bowls, then top with cucumbers, garbanzo beans, avocados, beets, olives and pine nuts.
Tuck a wedge of lemon into each bowl and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Mediterranean Grain Bowl (Serving size: 1 dinner bowl) – Calories 614; Total fat 32 g; Trans Fat 0g; Sodium 55.7mg; Carb 69.2g; Fiber 21.3g; Sugars 9.1g; Protein 19.9g; Potassium 26%; Phosphorous 33%

Tahini Yogurt Sauce (Serving size: 1 tablespoon) — Calories 25; Total fat 2g; Sat. fat 0g; Chol . 1mg; Sodium 9mg; Carb . 2g; Fiber 0g; Sugars 1g; Protein 1g; Potassium 43mg; Phosphorous 39mg

Want more healthy and delicious recipes? Visit;