Monday, November 13, 2017

Southwestern Goulash

I can't believe it has been almost two months since I last posted a recipe! Gracious. I promise I have cooked since then, just haven't really been trying too many new recipes LOL. My beloved and I took a wonderful vacation last month to visit family and spend some time in the mountains, and while there we learned that we are going to be having a baby next summer! To say that I have been walking on air would be an understatement. So thrilled! Needless to say, our days since arriving back home have been filled with doctor's appointments, morning sickness (sometimes all DAY sickness) and all of the fun stuff that goes along with pregnancy.

That being said, I made this recently and we both loved it! We both grew up eating traditional goulash made by our moms and have always loved that but this just gives a different take on that recipe. I will definitely be making this one quite a bit. As a side note, it does make several servings. Since there are only two of us we weren't able to eat the whole thing so I am going to use the leftover meat mixture to make twice-baked potatoes tonight. We don't like wasting food and I love being able to repurpose leftovers! Just an idea :). Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
28-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c. frozen corn (you can also use canned if you prefer)
8-oz. can tomato sauce
4-oz. can chopped green chilies
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook macaroni according to package directions.

While the water is boiling and pasta is cooking, prepare the ground beef and vegetables.
In a large skillet on medium heat, cook the beef and onion, breaking the meat into small crumbles, until meat is no longer pink.
Add remaining ingredients.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes to allow flavors to marry.
Drain cooked macaroni and add to the meat mixture*.
Enjoy!!

*My husband is very particular about pasta not being overcooked. He doesn't love having noodles cooked into mixtures so I served the noodles and meat mixture separately and then we mixed them together according to our tastes. It works beautifully and it allows me to use the extra meat mixture to make something else later, as I mentioned in the introduction.