Tacos and Pasta combine to make a meal for one on your dinner plate.
I love pasta and I love tacos. And, this one of my newest favorite recipes. Yes, I said pasta and tacos together in one sentence. Plus, it's an easy to make meal for one or an entire family.
In my search for foods that are compatible, I'm nominating tacos and pasta. One friend turned her nose up at it, but I say don't say don't make a judgement until you have tried it. It's a great combination of the taco seasoning and the no-salt pasts. I've found that out that so much of the Mexican foods I have had are laden with salt. Not good for our daily diet. I can have the taste and textures of Mexican on pasta and cut the sodium content by over half.
I prefer to make the taco meat with my own spices, cayenne, pepper, hot sauce and other spices out of my cupboard. I spoon the taco meat over any kind of pasta, with my favorite being angel hair pasta. By using pasta you eliminate all the salt they put on the taco chips and taco shells since pasta has no salt in it. Top the warm pasta with a little shredded cheese so it melts. Then add your favorite taco meat, raw pepper chunks, onions, homemade salsa, avocado, hot sauce and a dollop of sour cream. Mmmmmm!
If you have a favorite store bought taco seasoning, look for a low sodium type. They have them. Sometimes you have to ask the grocer to stock them. I've found one that touts 30% less sodium, and there is absolutely no difference in taste. So, why mess up your blood pressure with excess sodium?
The raw veggies add more vitamins and nutrients, giving you more texture and flavor. Sometimes I splurge with a little raw avocado on the side.
I've even served the taco meat and a mellow spaghetti meat sauce side by side on top of the pasta with mozzarella cheese on one half and a hot spicy cheddar cheese on the other. You have to eat it to experience the different flavors.
This quick stove top meal serves 2-4 people:
Easy Put Together Ingredients:
1/2 C Pasta, boiled up to make about 1 1/2 C pasta
2 C Taco hamburger and seasonings already prepared (from 1# raw hamburger)
1 Pepper, sweet, large yellow or red or orange (green peppers are more bitter), cleaned, seeded, diced
1 Jalapeno Pepper, cleaned, seeded and diced
1 Onion, small, peeled, diced
1/2 Pound Cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz Sour Cream
4-8 oz Salsa (I prefer homemade - that recipe comes later to my blog)
Hot sauce to flavor
Cilantro for garnish
Assemble it on a Charcuterie Board:
- Fry up the hamburger and prepare your taco meat according to the taco seasoning package directions. Or, add your own spices.
- Clean, seed and dice the vegetables. The yellow, orange and red sweet peppers add some bright colors to the meal. Don't limit yourself to these veggies, try some others, too.
- Set up a board with all the items assembled with the veggies right on the board.
- Assemble the warm pasta, cheeses, warm taco meat and salsa in separate bowls set on or around the board.
- Bring small dinner plates for your guests or family to use to layer their own Taco Pasta.
- Yummm!!
Accompaniments:
- Beer or wine top it off.
- Taco chips, if you insist.
- Churros
- Refried beans
- Green salad with ranch dressing to cool your mouth if you slather on too much hot sauce.