Lucky Green Pasta

Lucky Green Pasta

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Garlic Powder (to taste)

Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

Half a Red Onion

Four Green Onions

1 Avocado

Half cup Broccoli

 Fresh Basil (to taste)

Shredded Parm

Whole Wheat Pasta (I used half a package and had a ton of leftovers)

I picked up an Avocado at the grocery store the other day and decided to make a pasta dish with it. I have never had Avocado in pasta, so this idea intrigued me. Most recipes called for pureeing the avocado with basil or cilantro before adding it to the pasta. I do not have such means as a food processor, so I decided to just wing it and see what I came up with. I pretty much used everything I had in my refrigerator at the time, but it turned out really good! 

Start pasta boiling before you start the veggies. (I am still getting the hang of this!) Heat up the olive oil and add the chopped up onions and broccoli (I used frozen broccoli, which took a while to de-thaw). Sprinkle in some garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Meanwhile chop up the avocado and tear the basil up. Once the pasta is done cooking combined the veggies with the pasta and mix in the avocado and basil. Top with fresh shredded parmesan cheese and enjoy. This is a GREAT tasting meal with tons of healthy veggies and flavor. No need for a food processor!    

Penne with olives, capers, and tuna

Instead of going to the gym yesterday I decided to bake and cook! I’ve been doing this a lot lately, perhaps I need to re-think my priorities… My baking adventure didn’t turn out so great. I deviated severely from the recipe, and apparently didn’t mix things enough… needless to say my “healthy muffins” are not something I will be sharing with my co-workers or boss if I value my job. BUT, I made pasta for dinner which was a huge success! I wanted to use some of the things I had in my pantry like tuna and capers. I found a recipe from foodnetwork.com for Tuna, Olive and caper pasta. (www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kathleen-daelemans/pasta-with-tuna-tomatoes-garlic-capers-and-olives-recipe) I deviated a little from the recipe; I used diced canned tomatoes and no anchovies. I also used one pack of tuna with oil, and one without. The flavor was incredible! Usually the kalamata olives are too salty and overpowering, but in this recipe it worked nicely. Check out the recipe and then come back here to see some lessons I learned from this recipe! I

Lesson 1: Be careful not to overcook pasta. It’s better to be a little al dente than mooshey. I over cooked my pasta a bit since I was busy getting everything else together. Just keep a close eye on it and you should be okay.

Lesson 2:  Don’t burn your garlic! I did it again, woops. I swear I will learn this lesson eventually!

Lesson 3: It’s okay to deviate from the recipe, like omitting items you do not enjoy (anchovies), it will still taste great. Now when baking, you need to be more careful… (see above).

I used fresh basil at the end of the recipe (they give you an option of things to add). I loved the basil in this pasta, it was a nice flavor addition. This pasta is VERY filling. I had tons of leftovers, and I ate a huge plate last night. I also agree with the comments on the web-site, use less pasta because the pasta to sauce ratio is a little off. Overall this was one of the easiest and more flavorful dishes I have made yet! It took me literally no time to make since most of ingredients were canned or jarred and just needed a little rough chopping. I made this last night while watching Tron, which I think added to the experience =)   Make this in a day when you don’t feel like cooking something complicated and enjoy!