Hello! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week! This has been a great week for me. After passing the RD Exam, I have had a very productive and relaxing week. I even found time to read a book that wasn’t related to nutrition! That rarely happens, haha. Also, Wednesday was my birthday, so that was a great day full of friends and great food. Anyway, I also found time to cook this week! So today I present you with one of my new favorite dishes: Whole Wheat Pasta with Creamy Avocado Sauce.

As just a pasta and sauce dish, this is vegan (although I grated some fresh Parmesan on top for the photo, so obviously leave that out if you’re vegan). However, I like to add some extra protein sources in there, making this a great meal for before or after a workout. I have made this before with chicken, but this time I used canned tuna, which is a great option if you don’t have cooked chicken ready to go. Canned tuna is just so convenient. I also threw in some low fat cottage cheese for more protein, calcium, and of course flavor!

This is so easy to make. You just cook the pasta, and throw all the sauce ingredients into the blender and whip it up. Then, you mix the sauce with the pasta and throw in what other ingredients you like (in my case cottage cheese and tuna fish, but this would also be great with veggies like cooked asparagus and broccoli). Here’s how you make it:

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:

1 large ripe avocado, peeled and seeded

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, juiced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 cup of fresh minced basil (optional but recommended if you’ve got it)

For the Pasta:

1 pound whole wheat pasta (I used Penne)

1 cup low fat cottage cheese

2 cans of tuna, drained

Any other add ins you like such as cooked veggies, pine nuts, slivered almonds, edamame, etc.

Method:

1. Prepare the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Put the avocado, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and fresh basil into a high speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add the sauce, tuna, cottage cheese, and any other add ins you like to the pasta and mix well.

One of the great things about this dish, is that you make a huge batch and then you have lunches or dinners all week!

As mentioned, if you want to make this dish for a vegan or vegetarian, just make the sauce and pasta and leave out the cheese and tuna. It’s still a good source of protein if you’re using whole wheat pasta, and you could add chopped nuts, edamame, and/or nutritional yeast flakes for additional protein.

This dish can be eaten hot or cold, but I prefer to eat it warm.

If you’re as obsessed with avocado as I am lately, you should definitely check out these other fantastic avocado favorites:

This Avocado Chicken Salad packs a HUGE protein punch!

Avocado Hummus is super easy to make (and eat) and is full of heart healthy fats and also filled with protein and fiber!

For those of you who are adventurous, try these Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies! I think they are the healthiest cookies I’ve ever made, and soooooo delicious!

That’s all I have for today! It’s been a heck of a birthday. Thank you to everyone who wished me well today 🙂

What are your exciting plans for the week?

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