Mexican Tuna Macaroni Casserole

We're generally not big casserole eaters in our house. Not because we don't think they're delicious, it's just not something we usually think of when trying to make up our weekly meal plans. There was no plan for dinner tonight and I wanted something Mexican themed, and I knew we had some tuna in the cupboard just asking to get used. So I started doing some searching on the web for a Mexican Tuna casserole and was pretty disappointed at what I found. So I went "off book" and made up my own recipe.

And OMG. It was delicious and it smelled soooo good! And it was also super easy and an incredibly cost effective meal to boot. It made five adult servings, but you could easily get more if it was served with a side salad or something. There was supposed to be some black beans in there too, but I thought we had some so I didn't pick any up at the grocery store, and then got home and realized we in fact did not. I'll try adding them next time, but it was amazing without them, so maybe I won't bother!

Mexican Tuna Macaroni Casserole:

Ingredients:

- Approx 3 cups of cooked elbow macaroni (al dente, since it will cook more in the oven)

- 1 can of cheese soup (you could use a low fat cream soup as well if you preferred)

- 1 cup salsa

- 1/2 cup diced onion

- 1/2 cup diced celery

- olive oil

- 1 cup corn

- 1 can diced green chilies

- 1/2 TBS taco seasoning

- 1 can flaked tuna, drained (or chunked broken up, etc.)

- grated cheese 

 Instructions:

1. Cook macaroni according to directions on the box, but only cook till al-dente since the pasta will cook more in the oven and you don't want it to get mushy.

2. Add the diced onion and celery to a pan with a bit of oil to soften.
3. Transfer onion and celery to a large bowl. Add in soup, salsa, corn, green chilies, tuna, and taco seasoning. Mix well to combine.

4.. Pour tuna macaroni mixture into oven safe casserole dish. Top with grated cheese and bake at 350 degrees for approx 25 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbly.

Enjoy!