Chili Pasta with Beans

I was going to say "What a day" but haven't I been saying that just about every day lately? Ah, life with a three year old in the house. Always keeps things interesting. It's a good thing I'm nursing the baby because if I wasn't, I'd probably be an alcoholic. Just kidding. Maybe.

Anyway, this was another recipe from last month's Cooking Light, actually from the same article as the falafel recipe I mentioned in my post yesterday. It was on the same page as the falafel, so I happened to notice it when looking at that. I had pretty much everything on hand for it, and as I've been trying to use up items from my freezers and pantry I thought it would be good.

Chili Pasta with Beans
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 pound ground sirloin
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces uncooked ruote (about 2 1/4 cups uncooked wagon wheel–shaped pasta)
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Muir Glen), undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and beef to pan; cook 4 minutes or until onion is tender and beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups water and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until pasta is done.

Nutritional Information
Calories:294
Fat:8g (sat 2.3g,mono 3.6g,poly 0.9g)
Protein:18.8g
Carbohydrate:35.4g
Fiber:4.6g
Cholesterol:21mg
Iron:3.7mg
Sodium:644mg
Calcium:59mg

*****

I figured since the nutritional info was posted I'd include it here. I'm changing it up slightly and adding a can of kidney beans instead of the ground beef. I have a ton of ground beef for some reason, but I needed another vegetarian dinner in my meal plan, so I thought that would be a decent substitute. Also, a big THANK YOU to Jen B. for giving me some chili powder since I'm out and didn't want to go to the store with two kids (I still haven't braved that). Oh, and I couldn't find wagon wheel pasta, so I think I got fusilli instead.

I think I'm going to heat up some canned corn (I heart Trader Joe's canned corn so much!!! I've been known to eat it straight from the can. I hope that wasn't TMI.) and some bread to go with it. Had I thought far enough ahead I would have thawed a loaf of frozen bread dough, but I never think to do that with enough time for it to thaw and rise.

*****

This was decent but not something I'll make all the time. If I need a dinner and have everything on hand I'd probably make it again, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to make it. I liked that it was healthy and made a lot, but overall it was just kind of "eh."

(I forgot to take a picture when I made it, so I took a picture of the leftovers when I was having some for lunch one day.)