Beef and Noodle Skillet

If you need a fast but tasty meal on the table, consider trying this. Reminiscent of Tex-Mex dishes, this dish can be tweaked to be as spicy as you need it. Inexpensive ingredients and ridiculously easy preparation make this a real pleaser. It can be easily doubled or tripled to feed many people. Serve with sturdy tortilla chips for scooping...although you can always use forks if you so choose.

Beef and Noodle Skillet

1 lb. supreme lean ground beef (93/7 blend)

2 cups uncooked egg noodles

1 cup kernel corn

1 cup sliced scallions

1 cup water

½ cup salsa (thick and chunky style)

16 oz. no salt added tomato sauce

Cook the noodles in boiling, salted water according to the package directions.

In a large skillet, cook the ground beef thoroughly and drain off all the fat. Add the corn, scallions, water, salsa, tomato sauce and the egg noodles. Stir completely to blend and cook uncovered until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. Taste for seasoning and add a small amount of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, if needed.  

Serve immediately with tortilla chips. Accompanying beverages may include lemonade, iced tea or, preferably, frosty beers.

Serves 4

NOTE:  If you don't want to use beef, you can substitute it for lean ground turkey breast (93/7 blend). The original recipe also called for regular tomato sauce, but since I try to cook with as little salt as possible, I changed the recipe to suit my tastes. You may certainly use regular tomato sauce - I'd recommend not adding any additional salt, then.