Take a few ingredients and make two recipes that serve at least 6 people each, in just 30 minutes total. First recipe is a meat sauce and the second is a quick chili. This recipe is all about re-purposing leftovers, simply. The chili can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Ingredients
Oil
- 4 teaspoons olive, canola, avocado, peanut or sesame oil
Ground_meat
- 2 lbs ground turkey, 97% lean ground beef, or ground chicken
Pasta
- 1 lb (16 oz) whole wheat pasta, cooked according to box instructions.
Tomato_sauce
- 60 oz (low sodium/salt, if possible)
Carrots
- 14 oz canned carrots, strained and rinsed (or other canned, non-starchy vegetable like green beans or artichoke hearts)
Artichokes
- 1 (14-oz) can artichoke hearts, strained and broken into pieces
Pepper
- to taste
Salt
- to taste
Corn
- 1 (14-oz) can, strained and rinsed
Beans
- 1 (14-oz) can kidney beans, strained and rinsed
Chili_seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons chili seasoning mix (low sodium if possible)
Toppings
- low-fat shredded parmesan cheese, lime wedge, chopped scallions, cilantro, crushed tortilla chips (all optional)
Instructions
Step 1
First, make the meat sauce: Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground meat, and cook while breaking up into small pieces, until browned. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions in a pot.
Step 2
Once the meat is browned, add tomato sauce, canned carrots and canned artichokes. Add ground black pepper and salt to taste. Save corn and beans for later.Cook until heated through and simmering, about 5 minutes.
Step 3
Pour half of the meat sauce over cooked pasta, and serve. Reserve the rest of the sauce for chili.
Step 4
Now make the chili: To the remaining meat sauce, add corn, beans, and chili seasoning. Enjoy sprinkled with low-fat parmesan cheese or other topping(s) of choice (optional).
Notes
Using a low-sodium tomato sauce helps you keep the sodium levels low in this meal. If you cannot find a low-sodium sauce, then do not add salt -to-taste to the recipe.
Rinse canned vegetable (carrots or other vegetable) before using to remove excess salt. Use a low-sodium canned vegetable if possible.
Nutrition facts presented are for 1 serving of pasta with meat sauce, using low-sodium sauce and 97% lean ground beef.