Chili Mac

So last Friday while at Whole Foods I decided that I wanted chili mac. You know the hamburger helper stuff. But I wanted to just try and make it. I think that should give me points. Since it was so long ago since I made it I will just kind of guesstimate on amounts and stuff. This was a measure free meal.

75% lean ground beef
generous shake of macaroni noodles
sea salt
pepper
Mrs. Dash Spicy
palmful of cilantro chopped
one can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes
one can (6 oz) tomato paste
one cup of chicken broth
one clove of garlic, minced
half a small red onion, chopped fine
couple drizzles of olive oil
one can of black bean drained and rinsed
a couple shakes of dried oregano
a couple shakes of dried parsley
a couple of shakes of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
salsa verde
colby jack cheese
sour cream

Here is what I did:

Put a salted pot of water on to boil. After the water began a rapid boil add noodles and cook about al dente. Don't overcook, you don't want mushy noodles. Drain and return to pot. Set aside.

Browned the ground beef on medium heat seasoned with the a half a capful of spicy Mrs. Dash. after browned all the way through lower heat and drain ground beef. Return ground beef to pan. Push meat aside add a little olive oil and add onion and garlic to pan. Soften onions and mix together with ground beef. Add diced tomatoes and salt. If tomatoes are to chunky for you (mine were) chopped with wooden spoon. Taking a kitchen scissors to the tomatoes in the can works well too. Mix well. Add chili powder, oregano, and parsley, stir well. Add tomato paste entire can and add chicken broth until its an consistency you like. Taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cilantro, stir well. Add cumin. Cover for 10 minutes. Stir in cheese.




I served mine with salsa verde and sour cream.