hearty dish Archives - Life's A Tomato

It was a cold windy day. I do mean windy, too. Every time I looked out the window I saw more and more of our neighbor’s Christmas decorations in our yard. That meant it was time for some stick-to-your-ribs comfort food. Nothing fancy, just something to warm me up before I went outside to rescue the inflatable Santa. But not fancy doesn’t mean not flavorful! This cowboy pasta is good tasty stuff. Cheesy shells, super-flavorful beans, tomatoes and chiles, and ground beef all make for a delicious dish. This so hit the spot and made me forget about the weather outside.

Shake Off Those Winter Blues

This cowboy pasta definitely hit the spot on a cold day. You can choose your heat level (or not) by using spicy (or not) Rotel. I went with the mild. The Ranch beans have such great flavor by themselves, I didn’t want to drown them out by using super-hot Rotel. It’s your call, it’ll be great either way.

Don’t drain your Rotel or your beans before adding them to the mix. You want all those tasty juices. So get them in there!

While I’m on the subject of Ranch-style beans…. I love them. They are the tastiest beans ever. I keep them on hand and often substitute them in dishes that call for ‘regular’ canned beans. Our go-to grocery store doesn’t carry them, but some others do. You might have to look around. You can order them online, too, of course.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

This recipe is great made with ground beef. But you can also use ground chicken. Or Italian sausage! And yes, even meatballs. It’s quite a flexible recipe, so mix it up. If you want to. It’s great as it is of course!