Spaghetti with a kick of Mexican flare

Ben made up this meal in his head while he was grocery shopping in the canned vegetable aisle. He saw some mexican stewed tomatoes and thought it sounded good. I just made it tonight, and it was great and easy!

Ground turkey or beef (or your favorite vegetarian option like fake ground meat)
one onion
minced garlic
whole wheat pasta
two cans of stewed tomatoes with Mexican flavoring
grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper or a hotter seasoning if you prefer, like a cajun seasoning

Make the pasta according to the package. I would start boiling the water FIRST to make sure the pasta and the meat finish at the same time. Start to boil the water even before you start chopping the onions. Add salt to the water so you can season the pasta once it gets in there.

Heat a skillet and start to sautee the minced garlic (I used 1/2 tsp, but if you prefer more garlic, have at it). Add the chopped onion and sautee until the onion is clear. Sprinkle the raw meat with salt and pepper or a hotter cajun seasoning, depending on how hot you want to make it. Cook the ground meat, making it in small, edible bites, in the pan with the garlic and the onions. Once the meat is brown and cooked all the way through, add the two cans of mexican stewed tomatoes. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Make sure not to go too long as to cook off all the moisture from the tomatoes.

Put the meat on top of the pasta, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and ENJOY! Pair this with a fabulous salad and you will be good to go.

Dessert, you say? Check out my sister's column about gelato. Don't forget to subscribe so you can receive an email every time a new column is out!
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