Foodie Friday!

It's my first ever Foodie Friday!

Talk about good timing... it just so happened I cooked dinner tonight. :-)

This very fun event is hosted by my friend, a talented writer and blogger - Gollum (Michael) at Designs by Gollum.

Please stop by her blog to see a full list of all Foodie Friday posts.

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So my family is all together and I could not be happier. I have been trying to make up for all the home-cooked meals they missed while they were in Iraq.

So what happens when one wants Mexican and another wants Pasta?

Mexican Taco Pasta....of course!

It's actually one of my favorite, easy-to-fix comfort foods. I can prepare this dish, make a salad, fix garlic bread and ring the dinner bell in well under an hour.

It's pretty common sense cooking - but I took lots of pics...

As with most of my dishes, my first visit is to my handy-dandy scale filled with onions and garlic. When I am out of onions and garlic - we eat out because I do not know how to cook without them. :-D

I also start with a generous portion of cilantro, rough chopped and set aside.

While I am chopping the veggies...I heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan.

Here are some of the basic ingredients...

...many of them already in your pantry.

Oh... what is that I spy in the lower left-hand corner?

How did that get there?

Okay, it's not exactly an "ingredient" needed for the dish...but as the saying goes...

"I like to cook with wine...and sometimes I put it in my food."

Yea...that's me. :-D

So...while the veggies are being chopped...I start my pasta water.

I like to add salt, olive oil and fresh herbs. I threw in a handful of cilantro.

Saute onions, garlic, ground beef and half the cilantro until done.

By the way - this is one of my fave kitchen gadgets. It's a "burger-chopper-upper" from The Pampered Chef. It works really well when browning ground beef.

Next, drain burger then add one package taco seasoning mix - stir well.

Add one large can of tomato sauce, and one small can of tomato paste.

Add a can of Southwestern- style Mexican style Corn w/ Black Beans

(I like to add extra black beans - but did not have any handy)

Mmmm....baby bella's. Pre-sliced...pre-easy! ;-)

Toss 'em in....

Can you smell the scents? Cumin, onions, cilantro, tomato....oh yea!

Turn the heat to medium, and just let your sauce simmer.

Now it's time to break out the ole' Pasta Bowl...I lugged it back from Mexico when we went to a downtown market outside of Cancun.

Ain't she a beauty? It holds a LOT of pasta!

Once the pasta is cooked al dente (in Southern speak - that means "pert near done!")

:-D

go ahead and mix well with sauce.

Well, this looks awfully plain. Time to dress it up...

Add a layer of shredded cheddar cheese - then some crushed corn chips.

Chop some lettuce - I used romaine but any kind will do.

Add the lettuce around the outer edge of the bowl.

Finally, add some sliced black olives and fresh, red tomatoes. I happened to have some left-over red cherries which I halved.

I used my hand-painted Portuguese pottery plates. I love how the colors of the dish are reflected in the colors of the plate.

This is a down-home comfort dish with a twist of worldly flavors....

So the next time your family is indecisive about what they want for dinner....give them both.

I hope you have enjoyed sharing dinner with us tonight. There's plenty more - so you are welcomed to seconds. :-)

Please make sure you head over to Designs by Gollum to see all the other fabulous Foodie posts.

May You have a Comforting Day...Barb