Tex-Mex Pasta Salad

Have I mentioned how glorious it is to have the entire summer off? I have spent my days thus far waking up around eight, followed by some intensive puppy petting and coffee drinking. After that Terry and I head to the gym, I always eat a banana in the car on the way. Working out is followed by lunch, chores, and then a little lounge time beside the pool. Tough life, isn't it? I have to keep pinching myself to make sure it is real. What have I been doing teaching summer school for all these years while I could have been living this lifestyle!? With all of this amazing down time I have decided to revisit some of my old Cooking Light publications, in no particular order. I happened upon the September 2005 issue and while pursuing through I found several recipes that looked very appealing. The first one I decided to try was the Tex-Mex Pasta Salad. I am always looking for a great dish to bring to BBQ's and this one delivered.

Tex-Mex Pasta Salad
Cooking Light

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked radiatore pasta -- (short coiled pasta)
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves -- minced
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2/3 cup water
1 (1.25-ounce) package 40%-less-sodium taco seasoning -- (such as Old El Paso)
2 cups preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese -- (8 ounces)
2 cups chopped seeded tomato
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup sliced ripe olives
1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans -- rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (8-ounce) container reduced-fat sour cream
salsa (optional)

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain; set aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add turkey; cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates and the turkey is done, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Combine pasta, turkey mixture, reduced-fat cheese, and next 6 ingredients (through beans) in a large bowl.

Combine lime juice, salt, cumin, and sour cream, stirring until well blended. Pour over pasta mixture; toss gently to coat. Serve with salsa, if desired.

Serves 12 Serving size: about 1 1/3 cups

CALORIES 344 (30% from fat); FAT 11.4g (sat 5.3g, mono 4.1g, poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 23.4g; CHOLESTEROL 51mg; CALCIUM 193mg; SODIUM 632mg; FIBER 3.6g; IRON 2.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.5g

Ingredients for the Tex-Mex Pasta Salad.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Rinse pasta with cold water.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute.

Add turkey; cook until browned, stirring to crumble.

Stir in water and taco seasoning.

Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates and the turkey is done, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Combine pasta, turkey mixture, reduced-fat cheese, and next 6 ingredients (through beans) in a large bowl.

Combine lime juice, salt, cumin, and sour cream, stirring until well blended.

Pour over pasta mixture.

Toss gently to coat.

Cooking Light's Tex-Mex Pasta Salad was awesome, definitely bring-to-a-BBQ worthy. It seems like it would be thrown together very quickly but it took a bit of time due to all of the chopping involved, it was nothing too tedious however. Instead of using a prepackaged taco seasoning I used the Taco Seasoning from Allrecipes.com that I reviewed in my last blog post. I used whole wheat medium shell pasta and a green bell pepper. The sauce is a sour cream mixture flavored by cumin and lime juice and really adds a great creaminess to the dish. Because the pasta is rinsed with cold water and the meat is allowed a brief cooling period I was a bit confused as to what temperature it should be served at. It turned out to be a little warmer than room temperature and tasted great. Today we ate the leftovers for lunch so I microwaved the refrigerated Tex-Mex Pasta Salad for one minute and enjoyed the results. I would recommend this kid friendly recipe to everyone, it is a delightful summer dish.

-Heather