Guacamole Pasta

I was inspired by a recipe from the blog Oh She Glows, which I found on Pinterest. Maybe you saw it? It was called Creamy Avocado Pasta. I tried it out and loved it, then decided to take it a step further with some of my favorite pasta ingredients. I had a fresh bag of avocados and had recently made a delicious batch of guacamole. Most of my usual pasta toppings are also in guacamole, so they'd go perfectly well with avocado pasta, right? That was my hypothesis. I collected materials and then experimented in my lab (kitchen). My conclusion? A work of art both in taste and appearance. I was satisfied. It's an excellent comfort food if you love avocado. Next time I might add a bit of Toffuti Sour Cream to make it creamier, as the dish loses some of it's creamy texture when adding all those other ingredients. I bet it would go well with gluten free corn and quinoa pasta--like chips and guac!

Dice the grape tomatoes after cooking at your preference. I like my grape tomatoes whole and bursting with juiciness in every bite, but this recipe would be great with the tomatoes a little more blended. It doesn't store for very long since it's avocado, but the acidity of the tomatoes should help preserve it a little. Store in a super airtight container if you must store it, but this dish is best eaten right away.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. uncooked pasta

1 package grape tomatoes or two cans diced tomatoes (drained)

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 avocado

dash lime juice

fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (for topping)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Add onions, whole grape tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper in a medium size casserole dish (I used a glass loaf dish). Mix well, then place in oven cook for 30 minutes.

2. Timing this perfectly so your pasta is ready when your sauce is ready, cook your pasta according to package directions. While your pasta is cooking away, cut your avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop out the creamy green fruit into a large mixing bowl, mashing it a bit. Add a dash or two of lime juice.

3. When your pasta is cooked, drain it and then toss immediately into the soft avocado. Also add the oven roasted tomato sauce. Make sure you add all that hot, garlicky olive oil! Mix thoroughly until the pasta is evenly coated. Serve and top with cilantro, sea salt, and black pepper. Superb said the herb.

   

Dairy Free Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

I love cheesy pasta dishes. I was disappointed when I went back to Pittsburgh in August and had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Joe Mama's, realizing that all of my usual orders were smothered in cheesy sauces: Hug Yo Belly Gemelli, Herbed Chicken and Penne, Nonna's Gnocchi... Another Pittsburgh restaurant, Eat 'n' Park, was a common place for me and my husband to go for a quick lunch or dinner. Our usual was their Chicken Broccoli Alfredo. In college we loved to go to The Underground at Carnegie Mellon, where we would get a plate of hot pasta topped with creamy Alfredo sauce and marinara. The point is, I used to order Alfredo all the time.

I gave it up for awhile, refining my tastes by ordering complex pasta dishes at Italian places and trying new things with more nutrion. But lately I've been craving cheesy things. The only solution to that is to experiment with dairy alternative products and to create masterpieces. My dairy free chicken broccoli Alfredo is definitely a masterpiece. It tastes better than the real thing and I'm serious. I could eat this everyday!

I used the best tasting dairy free alternatives: Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread, Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk, and Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream. Aged parmesan cheese has very little lactose, 0mg per serving, so it's not going to bother lactose intolerant people in small amounts. In large amounts it will, so if you eat a lot be careful or take a Lactaid pill. It can't be eaten by people with a milk allergy. For a completely dairy free version, I recommend using Vegan Grated Parmesan Cheese Alternative by Galaxy Nutritional Foods. There's also a parmesan cheese alternative on the market called Parma!. It's made with walnuts, salt, and nutritional yeast. I haven't tried it yet but I'll blog about it when I do.


Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

1/3 cup parmesan cheese or parmesan cheese alternative
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish


2 chicken breasts, sliced and grilled
1/2 lb of linguine
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli

Directions:

1. Make sure your chicken breast is cooked or almost finished before starting the sauce, pasta, and broccoli. I cut mine into four thin strips and grilled them with my George Foreman Grill the same time I started the pasta. I also recommend broiling for a grilled chicken taste. Start pasta by following the directions for cooking on the back of the box. Prep broccoli for quick light microwave steaming by putting it in a dish with a tablespoon of water and covering it.

2. Once your pasta and chicken are cooking, start the sauce. Melt Smart Balance in a large saucepan over medium heat. After it is melted add almond milk, sour cream, and garlic powder. Whisk to combine.
                          
2. Dissolve the cornstarch in water in a small dish and gradually add to milk mixture, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Bring sauce to a simmer. Cook for five minutes or until mixture has started to thicken. Add parmesan cheese and whisk to combine.
                         
3. While the sauce is thickening, steam fresh broccoli for two minutes in the microwave. Go back to the sauce, remove from heat, and stir in 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley.

4. At this point, you can cut your chicken into small strips and combine all ingredients in the saucepan to coat with the Alfredo sauce, or you can layer them: pasta, chicken, broccoli, and sauce. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and mangia!

Homemade Cabernet Tomato Basil Sauce

Making your own tomato sauce can be super easy!

There are many complicated and time consuming ways to make tomato sauce. I researched a thousand recipes that all called for skinning the tomatoes and boiling down the sauce to make a thick, rich tomato sauce.

For one thing, I didn't want to toss out all the skins--it seemed so wasteful. I've been refining my gardening skills which is why I need to make tomato sauce. I spent months caring for my plants to get those beautiful tomatoes! Maybe I could toss the skins of store bought tomatoes but not my homegrown roma's. Besides, the skins have the highest concentration of antioxidants.* I'd rather not throw out the health benefits.

Aren't they so pretty?

I also don't have the right tools for pureeing and straining, and I didn't want to stand at the stove boiling the sauce forever. I mean, come on, I have laundry to do!

So I took my own fresh approach. I got out the slow cooker to make it easier. I generally like my tomato sauce herby and with a touch of sweetness. A sweet and salty tomato basil sounded perfect for my roma's, and since I've been growing oregano as well, I decided to add that to the batch. Finally, I added a taste of cabernet to give it a unique flavor. My husband said it was award winning! It's definitely the type of sauce I would expect of a great restaurant.

Honestly, homemade tomato sauce is simple and it's hard to go wrong. It's much healthier than store bought sauce and tastes better. By eliminating some of the steps it becomes a quick process yet maintains great quality. You know what you put into it and know what you get out of it.

Ingredients:

2 cups roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped (makes 2 servings)
1/3 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons cabernet sauvignon
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
10-12 fresh oregano leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

1. Turn your slow cooker on high. While it's warming up, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Toss onions into the saucepan and sprinkle with a pinch of the sea salt and pepper. Cook for three minutes or until tender, then add minced garlic. Cook for no more than thirty seconds.

Should look like this.

Are those tomatoes chopped? I like that my "waste" pile is very small.

2. Add tomatoes and wine to the saucepan and stir to combine with oil, onion, garlic mixture. Let cook for a minute, then add sugar, the rest of the sea salt and pepper, oregano, and basil. Stir to combine. Cook for five minutes, uncovered.

Two cups.

Salt and peppered.

4. Transfer to hot slow cooker and let cook on high for one hour. I let my Crock Pot heat up for 15 minutes before transferring the sauce. A doubled recipe may need another half hour to an hour to cook. You can also simmer over medium low heat on the stovetop for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta--I used tri-color farfalle and added some ground turkey cooked with a little salt and pepper.

Cooking in the Crock Pot.

This recipe makes about 2-3 servings, enough for one meal for a couple. Easily double if you need to make more or want to freeze some for later. I have about enough patience to chop two cups of tomatoes at a time :-).

Finished product.

Fun Facts:

*Did you know that the olive oil in the sauce helps your body to absorb the carotenoids found in tomatoes?

*Also, in the case of tomatoes, cooking for prolonged time at high temperatures makes carotenoids more available. I got my info from www.whfoods.com.

Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta

Bucatini Pasta with grape tomatoes and dried basil.

I didn't come up with this simple pasta dish--I heard it on TV one morning and the recipe was so basic I remembered it exactly the next time I bought grape tomatoes. Whenever I eat it I swear there is nothing more perfect in life. I have yet to find a restaurant that makes such a delicious tomato basil pasta dish.

I have my own way of making this easy dish and love to share it! The freshness and quality of the simple ingredients really make this dish special. I try to buy fresh pasta from a local farmer's market. While I'm there, I also buy some good looking grape tomatoes, fresh garlic, and basil. You will want a good olive oil as well. It is easy to add other ingredients to this sauce to make it your own. I would suggest trying onions, red pepper flakes, cooked bacon, or a shredded hard, aged cheese. Try adding all if you like! This is a very versatile dish that can be great for lunch or dinner, served as a side or a main course!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. fresh made pasta from your local farmer's market. I also recommend Bucatini/Perciatelli Pasta if you do not have fresh pasta.

1 small package of beautiful shiny red grape tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, sliced

4 leaves Fresh basil, shredded-- a 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil also works well

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After rinsing your grape tomatoes, set them in a small glass pan in a single layer. Then add your sliced garlic.

2. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat the tomatoes and garlic well, adding a little extra as sauce that will coat your pasta. Add the sea salt and black pepper. I'm usually good about low-sodium cooking, but you want to add a generous amount of sea salt to this dish. It really brings out the overall flavor of the sauce. Stir to coat evenly. Then sprinkle the basil on top.

3. Cook for 40 minutes. If you want to make this dish faster, you can certainly cook it for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, but I don't think it's perfect this way ;-). 

4. While your tomatoes and garlic are roasting, boil water for your pasta during the last 20-15 minutes, depending on if you are using fresh or boxed pasta. To serve, spoon the tomato basil and olive oil sauce over your hot pasta. Pair with a sweet Moscato and be in heaven.