Now, I’m not saying that I’m looking forward to the apocalypse, but when I pull three pantry basics out to make up this healthy meal, I will be smiling….every single time. I thought I would share this simple concept of a meal, as it has given me so much joy and health over the years. I consider it a go-to comfort food, and it is so easy to make. The story goes back to hard times, and this shows me that even difficult periods in my life have had gifts to offer me. I always do my best to focus on the glass being not just half full, but overflowing. I consider this part of my daily practice of resiliency, which adds quality to my life, as well as preparing me for whatever might come my way…..but I digress! Let’s get back to my favorite pantry meal! The Origin Story It was a difficult time for me. I had lost my job on the farm suddenly. I was at a local food bank and was offered a package…it was a brown paper bag with a rolled up top and what looked like a letter stapled on the front. “Would you like a Meal to Go?” the lady asked. “Sure!” I answered, not sure what that meant. When I got it home, I carefully tore off the letter and opened it up. There were three items inside. A small baggie of rice, a small jar of salsa and a can of black beans.  The instructions were simple: cook up the cup of rice and then add the black beans and salsa and warm to serve. I was skeptical, after all, isn’t salsa for dipping tortilla chips in? However, I didn’t have other plans for supper, so I reluctantly made the thing up. To my utter and total surprise, I absolutely loved it! I couldn’t believe how tasty something so simple could be. As I wasn’t too enthusiastic about cooking at that time, I was amazed. To me, it was absolutely gourmet. I’ll now cover what I think the benefits of this simple meal are for preppers like us. Long Shelf Life Properly stored, rice can last for years. White rice is one of the best foods for long term storage. According to Valley Food Storage, “The combination of cold temperatures (sub 40F) and oxygen absorbers in airtight containers is the most effective way to get your rice to last upwards of 30 years and still retain its nutritional value and flavor.”  Shelf stable salsa bought from the store will last at least a year or two. As we preppers know, it doesn’t become poisonous at the best before date,so you can eat it after that. However, its quality will deteriorate over time. You can open it and be the judge for yourself! [LINK: ]  When it comes to the black beans, the longevity is really up to you. Canned will last you a good three to five years. [ Simply store your dried black beans in an airtight container and you can get two to three years out of them. [LINK: ] If you have dried black beans that are stored in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, you can be looking at decades, rather than years!  So, I guess, looking at these three items, salsa is the weak link. For those who have invested in a freeze dryer, I was thinking that this would be the way to extend the life of the salsa part of this recipe. In fact, I found online a great recipe here for freeze-dried salsa that you can mix up from various freeze-dried ingredients after the fact to make salsa that is “just add water.”  And here is a recipe where you collect the ingredients with the intention to make your own freeze-dried salsa  By using the freeze dryer, you can take the couple years that the jar of salsa would last in your pantry and turn that into 10 – 25 years. All of a sudden, you have three equally matched ingredients lasting for decades to make my favorite pantry comfort food. Hurray! Variations Now, since I found out about this recipe, I have really reduced the amount of carbs I eat every day. This has been part of viewing my long-term weight loss plan as part of my preparedness. You can learn more about this in my recent article here. So, a very important variation that I now eat regularly is to make this recipe with high-protein quinoa, rather than rice. I am not a dietician, but I think this would make the recipe more suitable for diabetics, too. To add more flavor to the quinoa, I dry toast it in a cast-iron pan. This gives it a delightful nutty flavor. You can learn more about this here.  Can you tell that I eat this pantry survival food all the time? Yes, I do! Another variation that I make is to throw a few onions in my cast iron pan and sauté them until soft. I also throw in some garlic. As the quinoa is cooking or standing to get fluffy, I also throw the black beans and salsa into the cast-iron pan so that they are hot, too. At the last moment, I also throw in some finely chopped greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard) and just let that wilt in the pan. Then, I scrape the entire contents of the cast-iron frying pan into the pot that I cooked the quinoa in and stir to mix. You can also vary what this dish tastes like by changing up the salsa (of course, this variation is better suited to non-SHTF times). My favorite salsa for this meal is a local no-name brand with corn in it. Deeee-lish! How Much Does it Make? From one mixing of the three ingredients (one cup of grain (rice or quinoa)) and one small jar of salsa and one large can of black beans, I get five meals of around two cups. This is a good-sized bowl. As I aim for a smaller supper, this is perfect. It is so great to do this kind of easy cooking and get five meals! Delicious Shelf Stable Pantry Cooking Using up your food stores needn’t be a chore. I absolutely LOVE my Salsa Sur-Thrival recipe! Having tasty recipes for pantry basics can be a strength of your preparedness. Could you see yourself trying the recipe offered here? Do you have your own fave pantry recipe you can share with us? Please tell us in the comments below. About Rowan Rowan O’Malley is a fourth-generation Irish American who loves all things green: plants (especially shamrocks), trees, herbs, and weeds! She challenges herself daily to live her best life and to be as fit, healthy, and prepared as possible. The post My Fave Pantry Food: “Salsa Sur-Thrival” appeared first on The Organic Prepper.