Believe it or not, this pasta dish has many aspects you may be looking for in a meal. It is: low-carb, gluten free, high in protein and fiber, contains veggies and most importantly it is super tasty! That's hard to pack onto one plate. Especially when it comes with the comfort of being a pasta! I usually don't buy gluten free pasta, but when I saw "black bean" pasta on the shelf I was instantly pretty curious. This noodle, sold at Trader Joe's,  is made with 100% black bean flour and the only other ingredient is water! So this pasta is grain free, gluten free and vegan. Not only that, here is what really sold me to try this as a pasta alternative... it contains 14 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber in every serving! I made a Tex-Mex style ground turkey breast mash with corn, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Adding the black bean pasta in there was a great touch because the noodles do taste just like black beans! So I figured it was the perfect match for the Tex-Mex theme in this dish.  If you are vegetarian or looking to make this a meatless dinner, you can skip out on the ground turkey breast part and still get all your protein from the pasta! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey breast

• 1 lb. Trader Joe's black bean rotini pasta

• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 bell pepper, diced

• 1-2 cups of corn (strained from can or frozen)

• 1 15oz. can of diced tomatoes

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• salt

• ground black pepper

• paprika

• cumin

• chili powder

• *(if you don't use fresh onion or garlic, substitute with onion powder and garlic powder)

Instructions

1. Start boiling a pot of water.

2. On the other burner, in a large pan, heat olive oil over medium. Once it begins to get hot, add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the ground turkey meat to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, begin to break apart the meat into small pieces as it cooks.

4. Add minced garlic and sprinkle each of the seasonings over the meat. Season to your liking. Occasionally stir and continue to break apart the meat as it cooks.

5. Once most of the pink is gone, add the diced bell pepper and corn. Stir to combine.

6. Drop your pasta in, salt water and cook pasta for about 8-10 minutes.

7. While the pasta cooks, finish the turkey mixture. Add the can of diced tomatoes directly into the meat mixture, season well with salt. Stir to combine, cover with lid, lower heat and cook for about another 5-10. (Until your pasta is ready and the turkey is fully cooked)

8. Drain the pasta, then transfer to your large pan with the turkey mixture. Stir to combine.

9. Once you serve each plate, sprinkling some shredded cheddar overtop is a nice finishing touch.

   
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