Creamy Avocado Pasta

We are leaving for Disney World this week, so we will be eating mostly left overs as I don't want to fill the fridge full of food and then leave. But I'll be back middle of next week.

I really really thought this recipe sounded good. I had an avocado, tomatoes, and pasta, I was excited. Bust. I really hate to say this but we didn't like it. I'm going so far as to say not Nichole approved. This is a first.

Creamy Avocado Pasta Sauce
makes 4 servings
recipe adapted from Oh She Glows

prep time: 10 minutes
cook time:1 hour 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
10 - 12 small Campari tomatoes, quartered
3 - 4 tbsp olive oil
4 servings of fettuccine noodles
2 ripe avocados, seed and skin removed
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup pine nuts
grated fresh Parmesan cheese
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300 ºF.

2. Wash and quarter the tomatoes. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil, just enough to make the tomatoes glisten. Bake for 1 hour in the oven.

3. Ten minutes before tomatoes are finished, fill a large pot with water and a sprinkle of salt. Bring to a rapid boil. Add the dry fettuccine to the water and cook until al dente.

4. While the pasta is boiling, add 2 tbsp olive oil, avocado, garlic, salt and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.

5. Strain the pasta, and combine with the sauce in a large bowl, until all the pasta has been covered.

6. Add the roasted tomatoes, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pine nuts. Add some salt and black pepper to taste.

note: add some grilled prawns or chicken for protein. 

My Notes

I don't really have any, this was like guacamole on pasta... which in theory sounds good. But the more Jeff and I ate the more we disliked it. Bummer.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad

I had some leftover chicken from my stock making the other day. I didn't feel like turning on the oven for a casserole and pasta salad was sounding good. A few key strokes later I stumbled across this recipe and I actually happened to have all the ingredients except Gorgonzola which is ok b/c Jeff doesn't like Gorgonzola.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad
From TasteofHome

Ingredients

3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta

4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped red onion

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup minced fresh basil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water; transfer to a large bowl. Add the chicken, tomatoes, onion, bacon and Gorgonzola cheese.

In a small bowl, whisk the oil, basil, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutritional Facts 1-1/3 cups equals 408 calories, 20 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 65 mg cholesterol, 323 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 28 g protein.

My Notes:
As I said before I didn't have any Gorgonzola, which is ok b/c Jeff doesn't like it. As I recall Gorgonzola is like blue cheese (I think) and I like blue cheese so I'm pretty sure I like Gorgonzola. Funny side note, anytime I hear Gorgonzola I think of the TV show Bones when they were trying to figure out the who Gormagon mystery and Booth kept calling him Gorgonzola and other silly names... makes me laugh to myself. Anywho, I added more bacon because I thought it could use a little more crunchy goodness and really who doesn't like bacon? I made 6 slices, the cat stole 2 (I'm not kidding) and I ate one. So then I had to cook more, which I then ate a bite or two off of each of those 3 slices. So I really couldn't tell you how much bacon when into the salad. Oh well.
The kid declared this 'delish' which I've never her heard her say before but she wrote it in a note to me. So I guess that's good. Of course there is no telling how much was actually consumed since I wasn't there. She could just be trying to toot my horn.

Corn and Avocado Salad

This recipe is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Everyone enjoys this, I end up making it just about everytime we grill in the summer (which is a lot).

Corn Salad with Avocado

2T oil (recipe says corn, I use vegetable)

4-6 ears corn, stripped of kernels (2-3 C)

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 t mild chile powder

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 medium ripe avocado, diced

S&P to taste

juice of 2 limes

1/2 C chopped cilantro leaves

Put oil in large skillet and turn to high heat. When oil is hot toss in the corn. Let it sit for a minute then stir or shake pan to toss the corn. Brown for about 5 minutes then turn off the heat stir in onion, pepper, chile powder, salt, and pepper.

Cool for a few minutes then toss in remaining ingredients. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

My notes:

This recipe is hard to mess up, it's very forgiving. I love cumin, so I always add cumin to this. I prefer to grill the corn and then lightly heat in a pan w/the pepper, onion, chile power, salt, pepper, and cumin. This recipe serves 4, but I just keep adding stuff til I think it's enough for however many people I have. Cutting the corn off the ear can be tricky, my Mom stands the ear up in a bowl and cuts from the top down. Most of the kernels stay in the bowl. This probably goes without saying, but it does not keep well b/c of the avocado.