Week 18 recipes  are easy, light and healthy – perfect for the first week of the year (resolutions, anyone?) or any busy week when everyone can fix their own salad and help themselves to a bowl of beans from the crockpot, a baked potato from the oven, or add 2 cups of hot water to a package of instant potatoes for a quick  hot helping of spuds.

If a pot of beans does not appeal to your family as a meal in itself, a few options have been offered

• Lima Beans – serve with baked sweet potatoes)
• Baked Potatoes – serve with a crisp green salad)
• Kidney Beans – add to cooked rice for Red Beans and Rice)
• Fried Rice – serve with a cabbage based salad like Fresh Express Asian kit
• Pinto beans – chop tomatoes and lettuce, serve with beans and cheese in flour tortillas for soft tacos or crisp corn tortilla rounds for chalupas
• Instant Mashed Potatoes – serve with leftover beans and a green salad like Fresh Express Pear Gorgonzola
• Quesadillas – Mexican grilled cheese – if you want more vegetables, add a Dole Southwest Salad kit
• Vegetable Soup or vegetarian Taco Soup (for either one, toss in all the leftover beans)