Not every meal is planned. Sometimes you look around your kitchen and see what you can do with what you’ve got. This was one of those meals. Pasta, black beans, Daiya, tomatoes, tomato paste, bell pepper, onion, a jalapeño … sounds like a chili mac! And indeed it was.
Chili powder, garlic, cumin, cayenne, maybe some oregano … sorry, this is definitely no recipe.
If you find yourself afraid to stray from recipes, just keep cooking things. Once you’ve cooked enough things you will eventually be able to collect ingredients and make a meal out of them without outside help.