Orecchiette in No-Cook Spinach Sauce

Orecchiette in No-Cook Spinach Sauce

 

This sounded like a great way to serve pasta - and I was looking for something other than marina sauce or broccoli to try. 

 

Kroger unfortunately doesn't carry orecchiette.

 

 

So we went with shells.

 

In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package in salted water. 

With 5 minutes to go, add green beans (I used frozen) and frozen lima beans.

Drain and set aside.

 

In a food processor, process spinach, garlic, oil, water, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper to taste.

Combine pasta, beans, and sauce together.

Serve warm or cold!

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

 

Buon Appetito!

 

Guilt-Free Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Guilt-Free Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 

Another couple of good recipes to share with you from my latest cookbook read.

 

 

I didn't set out to fool my family into eating vegetables, so I was surprised when my 3 boys thought this dish was just potatoes. 

They almost seemed disappointed when they found out parsnips and cauliflower were also involved.

  They never did taste the parsnips.

 

This is a good side dish that heats up well the next day too.

 

Start by roasting a bulb of garlic in the oven.

Remove any loose garlic paper, then snip off the pointed end of the bulb, exposing the cloves.

Wrap the bulb in foil and roast for 30 minutes.

 

While the garlic is roasting, peel and chop 2 russet potatoes, 2 parsnips, and chop up a head of cauliflower.  Boil the vegetables in generously salted water, then reduce to medium and continue cooking until tender.

Drain the vegetables and return them to the pot.

Squeeze the garlic juice and cloves over the vegetables, and add a little butter (or margarine or olive oil), milk or vegetable stock, and sea salt to season.

 

Mash well.

Season with sea salt and black pepper and serve warm.

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

 

Enjoy!

 

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Avocado Pesto Pasta

 

This is another yummy recipe from Chloe Coscarelli's cookbook that we tried out this week.

I think this may be my favorite pesto recipe - and I've made tons of different pestos.

We loved the creaminess of this one - and the great flavors.

 

 

I made a pound of linguine in salted water while I made the pesto in my food processor.

For the pesto I used basil, pine nuts, 2 avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

I drizzled in the olive oil as the other ingredients were chopping and combining.

 

The recipe calls for 1/2 c olive oil, but I think next time I'll start with 1/4 c and see if I want to add more.

 

I placed the hot pasta in a large bowl and topped it with the pesto.

Combined it and served immediately.

We ate the leftovers later as well - the lemon juice protects the avocado from turning brown and kept the flavor great.

 

This makes a large bowl of pasta, so you could easily cut the recipe in half.

 

It was creamy and delicious!

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card. 

 

Enjoy!