Mexican Pasta Salad

I love mexican food - so when I found this recipe for a mexican pasta salad at Cara's Cravings, I made it right away!  A great change from the normal pasta salad that I usually make so many times during the summer.  I made just a few modifications, as presented below.

1 lb wagon wheel pasta
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn

1 medium bell pepper, diced
2 medium tomatoes, and diced
1 1/2 cups salsa
1/2 cup olive oil
The juice of one lime
~2 -3 tbsp Taco Seasoning

freshly ground salt & pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, diced

Prepare pasta as per package instructions.  Drain and rinse with cold water to cool

Add beans, corn, and tomatoes to pasta in large bowl.

I mixed the cilantro and olive oil in the food processor.  Then drizzle the cilantro oil over the rest of ingredients and add seasoning.

Mix and add salsa as needed to coat (I did not measure and use 1.5 c.).  Season with salt and pepper, and dice and add avocado immediately before serving.

Sweet Corn Bake

My friend and I prepared this recipe to serve with the Taco Stuffed Shells.  We followed this recipe from allrecipes.com exactly, it was great.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup masa harina (a mexican corn flower, found in the ethnic section of the grocery store)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder


In a medium bowl beat butter until it is creamy. Add the Mexican corn flour and water and beat until well mixed.  Set aside.
Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky. Stir into the butter mixture.
In a separate large bowl, mix cornmeal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder. Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine.

Pour batter into an ungreased 8x8 inch baking pan.

Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil.

Place pan into a 9x13 inch baking dish that is filled a third of the way with water.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F for 50 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy as a sweet compliment to a spicy meal!

Taco Stuffed Shells

When I found this recipe I was so excited to make this twist on the traditional shells!  When my husband saw it, he insisted that I make it this weekend :)  I made a double batch because we had friends over for dinner, but I will write it up as a single batch.  I adapted from this recipe on BlogChef.net.  I eliminated the cream cheese and added more veggies.  They came out great!

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
Taco seasoning (I make my own, as described HERE)
1 can diced tomatoes

1 chopped bell pepper

1/2 chopped onion

1 box large pasta shells

1 jar salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup reduced fat mexican cheese (shredded)

Cook the ground beef and drain off fat.

Add the chopped pepper & onion to one side of the pan to cook.  I offset the pan on the burner so the peppers & onions are getting most of the heat.

Mix the vegetables & beef together and add seasoning.  Add the diced tomatoes.

Allow the mixture to cool so it can be handled.

Cook shells according to package instructions.

Stuff the shells.  Top with taco sauce and cheese and bake at 350 deg F for approximately 30 minutes.

Serve with the mexican corn cake recipe provided above!  The sweet of the corncake works great with these spicy shells!

***Variation***
As I said in the beginning of the post, I made a double batch.  After preparing one batch, there was a little less than 1/2 of the beef mixture left.  I decided to make bean and beef shells for the second half, so I mixed in a can of refried beans to the remaining mixture.  They came out great also!

Southwestern Quinoa Stew with Squash, Black Beans, and Corn

A coworker brought in this soup one day and I had to get the recipe, it was so delicious!
This is from the cookbook "Whole Grains for Busy People" by Lorna Sass.  This version includes some small changes I made.

I only had 1/2 cup of quinoa, so I pretty much halved the recipe and it was almost too spicy for me because I used the whole can of chipotle in adobo without reading that she calls for 1 tablespoon!!  .Haha.  It is still really good, I just have to mix in a  little sour cream to cool it down.  It's fine for Chris, though!

Ingredients:
olive or vegetable oil
1/2 minced onion
2 small or 1 large clove garlic, minced
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa (found in the health food aisle)
1 tbsp chipotle in adobo (Goya)
1 bag (10 oz) frozen diced butternut squash (recipe called for mashed winter squash but we preferred diced)
1 can drained & rinsed baked beans
1 can corn or 1 bag frozen corn
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
dried cilantro to taste (fresh would be better, but I didn't have any)

In large pot, heat a bit of oil.  Stir in onion and garlic and cook for a few seconds.

Add broth and ~2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil uncovered and add the quinoa.  Simmer for ~10 minutes.

Stir in the chipotle in adobo (this is where I added the whole can instead of 1 tbsp!!)  The recipe said to mash the chipotles, but I left them whole for cooking and removed them when we were ready to eat the soup (too scared to eat them!).  Add the squash.  Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the beans and reduce heat to medium.

Continue cooking until there is no solid white dot of starch at the center of the quinoa.

Stir in the corn, pepper, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer a few more minutes, and serve.

Chili

We love chili.  I made it this morning and put it in the crockpot for consumption while watching football later in the day :)  This recipe is for a double  batch.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground grassfed beef
2 cans kidney beans
2 large cans/boxes diced tomatoes
2 diced bell peppers
1 chopped onion
  Seasoning:
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon dried, minced garlic
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Brown the beef.

Combine the seasonings

Put all ingredients in the crockpot and add some water as needed.  Set crockpot for 6-8 hours on low (or 3-4 on high).  Enjoy!

I recommend serving with these tostadas- so delish!  You can find them in the mexican food aisle: