For this dish, I started with spinach, cilantro, onion and zucchini. Optional toppers: tomatoes and avocados. My task was to figure out how they could all go together.

Spinach-Cilantro Sauce

1 cup cilantro, packed

1 cup spinach, packed

2 cloves garlic

1 t crushed red pepper

1/2 juice from one lime

2 T olive oil, plus more for saute

salt and pepper

Saute cilantro, spinach, garlic and red pepper in garlic to help the flavors come out. Add saute to blender, with lime juice and olive oil. Puree so that a sauce forms.

Vegetables and Beans

2 zucchini chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 can black beans drained

Saute zucchini and onions in olive oil. Add drained black beans to heat through.

Pasta

Cook 2 cups spiral pasta. Drain

Spinach Cilantro Pasta Salad

Place pasta in a large bowl. Add Spinach Cilantro Sauce, sauteed vegetables. Combine and serve warm or cold.

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I couldn’t help but wonder what their opinions are regarding the bill.

I wasn’t at the grocery store however to interview people or to overly think what’s happening with the State. I was at the grocery store picking a few odds and ends and thinking about Creamy Taco Mac.

There is nothing too spectacular about the preparation or ingredients in this recipe. It’s just plain simple and tasty.

I enjoyed this outside enjoying the last few days of Spring, sipping a virgin margarita .

Creamy Taco Mac

Ingredients:

1¼ lbs. ground turkey

8 oz. dry pasta shapes

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained

4 tbsp. taco seasoning

3 oz. cream cheese

½ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Source: adapted from Delish

via Annie’s Eats.

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Pretty soon we’ll have breezes that feel like you’ve turned on a hair dryer and pointed it straight at your face and night time temperatures that don’t  dip below triple digits. And when all your phone conversations to home have some sort of comment about the Arizona dry heat.

My summer cooking regiment in Arizona is an odd mix of “mix it in” salads and cupcakes. Salads because they’re cool and refreshing and cupcakes, because summer is the time of year when I feel most confined to the house. I celebrated one of the last heat tolerable nights of the Spring by making a Black Bean and Tropical Fruit Salsa.

Black Bean and Tropical Fruit Salsa

1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 cup of yellow corn
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 cup diced fresh mango
3 T finely diced purple onion
2 T finely diced jalapenos
2 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 chopped cilantro
3 T fresh lime juice
Season with garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Mix in a bowl and give it an hour in the fridge so the flavors can mix.

This “salsa” ate more like a spiced up black bean salad although that didn’t stop me from using a chip as my preferred delivery device.

Other mix in salads on this blog:

Confetti Salad
Quinoa Salad
Black Bean Couscous Salad

Other salad recipes:

Black Bean Confetti Salad at Smitten Kitchen
Confetti Pasta Salad at Good-bye Martha

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