There’s something inherently warm and inviting about the smell of fall air.  I’ve always loved this time of year.  I loved the start of school when i was younger – the supply shopping, the structure of a set schedule, and the feeling of a new beginning.

As I’ve gotten older and school no longer serves as my annual beginning, I still find something undeniable about the change of seasons, and the crispness in the fall air that makes me want to reorganize closets, drink tea, and transition into heartier comfort meals.

I was a little under the weather today, but by this evening I was feeling halloween inspired, hungry, and wanting a mid-level comfort meal with some color to brighten up an otherwise gloomy day.  So, I went with a modified version of an awesome taco salad a good friend made for me a couple weeks ago, and it was awesome.

My first step was to make the taco seasoning — finally utilizing more than just one flavor from my favorite spice collection from Savory Spice Shop, and an awesome DIY recipe I found.

I was out of chicken, so I went the ground turkey route, with onions of course, and added the seasoning in to the mix.

Added color came from chopped red and yellow peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms.

I let this simmer for a while to soak in the seasoning, and then set it aside to cool and got to work on the ‘salad’ half of the meal.

If you’re a grain-lover, this is great with rice or pasta.  If you’re into salad dressing, feel free to add some, but there is plenty of flavor in the dish itself to cleanly top chopped lettuce for a full and complete meal.  Add wine, some friends, and a little halloween candy, and you’ve got yourself a pretty great Thursday night (if I do say so myself).

With all the change in the air – all the new and the old – sometimes you just need a warm meal and a little reminder to keep breathing and appreciate the more basic elements of life – they’re so easily taken for granted, or assumed to be smaller than they are.

Plus, who doesn’t want to drink in the wild air?  Thick, humid air? No thanks.  Wild air, I’m all in.  Bring it on Fall, I’ve been waiting for you.