One of My All Time Favorite Meals

I've been eating this all my life. It was a staple in my house growing up.

Fideo actually means noodle in Spanish. Yes, it's pasta. No, it's not whole wheat. But y'all pasta gets a bad rap. It's low fat, has almost no sugar, and the entire box only has 540 calories. No one is ever going to convince me to drop pasta from my diet. Never . . . as long as I live. Anyway, it comes in boxes (although you can buy it in bags too), and it costs about $.20 a box. How's that for cooking on a budget? And depending on what I add, a whole box can feed all three of us with a little left over. There are tons of recipes for Fideo, and I'm pretty sure that everyone makes it just a little bit different than anyone else. So, I thought I'd share the love and give y'all my recipe.

I like to start by cutting up whatever vegetables I'm going to put in. Tonight it was:

1 large yellow squash

half of a purple onion 

half of an orange bell pepper 

1 jalapeno

half a bag of fresh spinach.  

I then take half a tablespoon to a tablespoon of olive oil (I don't measure . . . just eyeball it) and heat it in a large saute pan or skillet. Once it's hot I dump in all the veggies and the noodles (minus the spinach at this point). It is very important that you don't add any liquid yet. Stir it around until the noodles are slightly brown. If you don't stir it, it may burn. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Next, I put in this. I am convinced that Rotel is the answer to every problem in the world. Do you want world peace? Just add Rotel. So go ahead dump in the whole can. This is also the point at which I add the spinach. Then give it a stir, and add enough water to cover both the noodles and the vegetables.

Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce the heat to medium. Let it simmer for around 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender. It's also important that you avoid stirring while it's simmering so that the noodles don't get gummy. Finally, salt and pepper to taste.

And here is the final product. It's easy, it's simple, and it's delicious. What more could you ask for?

The great thing about this recipe is that it can be adjusted for whoever's eating it. Andrew loves it, but I usually avoid the jalapenos and Rotel when he's eating. Instead I'll do fresh tomatoes and more spinach, onions, and peppers. You can also add meat if you like. 

So there you have it. One of the my absolutely favorite meals of all time.