Sloppy Joe Pasta Bake Experiment

I didn’t know what to make for dinner last night, so I went to the Roxie to see what kind of meat product might inspire me. I have some Trader Joe’s Mahi Mahi in the freezer that I keep forgetting to defrost. It’s still in the freezer even now, when I could have cooked it tonight.

I didn’t really feel like making stir fry. Not only did I feel like experimenting with something new, but I was out of rice. Yes, I could have bought more, but I’m low on lots of stuff and need to do a big shop soon.

Anywhoo, spent some time staring at the boxed taco shells contemplating making Sloppy Joe Tacos, a favorite from childhood. They sounded good, but I wanted something lower maintenance that would be easier to take to work later as leftovers.

Lately, having become a big fan of casseroles, I thought… maybe I could just make a Sloppy Joe Taco Casserole. But why not just make Taco Pie, because I don’t want that. I could crumble corn chips into a dish and… or I could just use noodles.

I bought about a pound of ground turkey and some Sloppy Joe mix and then headed off to the Farmer’s Market for veggies. I got a red pepper, an orange pepper, some broccoli, and yellow zucchini. I would have gotten a yellow onion too, but they didn’t look very good.

I chopped up the veggies and put them in the casserole dish. Boiled some noodles and added them. Made the Sloppy Joe meat (which also requires water and tomato paste, which I had) and added that. Stirred it up, baked it for about 25 minutes at 425.

Served it with grated (or close to grated) cheddar cheese and avocado. Yummy. All it needed was Tabasco.

If I make it again I might add some black beans or kidney beans too.

Here's the "official" recipe.