Saturday, April 4, 2015

Healthy, Creamy and Vegan: Avocado Pesto

I LOVE pasta with cream sauce... I mean, who doesn't love pasta with cream sauce? Alfredo, vodka, pestos... the cheesy and creamier the better right? Well, if you're trying to maintain a sudo healthy diet and your girlish/boyish figure, not so much. 

Avocado Pesto is a dream. It’s beyond healthy for you when made properly. Avocados are full of healthy fats, dietary fiber and are an excellent source of potassium (containing more per weight than bananas). In addition, avocados are rich in vitamin K, vitamin B9, vitamin B6, vitamin B5 vitamin C, and vitamin E2. Add in olive oil, fresh garlic & some healthy veggies and you’ve created an oh so good for you, gourmet meal. Best of all, this recipe takes about 15 minutes to make including cooking your pasta noodles. You can also use this amazing pesto on meats, toasts or as a dipping sauce for hearty breads and/or cut veggies. 

When I’d first read about Avocado Pesto, I immediately started researching recipes. It’s a fairly easy process but there are quite a few recipes out there. After playing around a bit, I’ve found this to be our favorite. Even Ryan loved it! And quite honesty he made it the best...he added fresh mozzarella cheese...:-)


My Amazing Avocado Pesto
4 servings

1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
1 c fresh basil leaves, packed
1/3 c pine nuts
4 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 organic lemon
4 T extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste ( have a good amount of salt on hand )
Water as needed
2 c fresh, organic spinach, packed
16 oz fresh pasta, cooked 
(You can use gluten-free noodles as well. We love thick fettuccine noodles!) 
1 organic tomato, diced

Preparation: Combine the first 4 ingredients in a food processor or blender. With the machine running, stream in lemon juice, 3 T olive oil and water as needed to achieve a smooth and creamy pesto. Season with salt (do NOT be shy) & pepper. 

In a large pan, heat the remaining 1 T of olive oil and sautĂ© 2 cups of spinach until just wilted. 
Add pesto and cooked pasta. Toss well. Garnish with diced tomatoes. If you’re not going the vegan route, feel free to throw in some grated parmesan or fresh mozzarella cheese. 

Go nuts and get creative!



My meis and plas...ya gotta be prepared. 


Soooooooo creamy you'd swear we added dairy. We didn’t.


VoilĂ ! An incredibly healthy, gourmet meal that's beyond satisfying. Enjoy!

Eat Up!  

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