Teenage Mutant Ninja Pasta

So, I suppose I should apologize for disappearing. I’d love to tell you some interesting story involving alien abduction and probing but alas, I’ve just been busy, lazy and unmotivated.

The good news: I’m near the end of my first month of Power 90 and I’m preparing my 30 day review for your reading pleasure.

The bad news: I’ve been completely unmotivated to step foot in my kitchen with the exception of heating up a frozen meal or a can of soup.

Apparently I needed a mental break and some time to adjust to the whole working 40 hours a week thing. I also suffered from a week long stomach virus that took an additional week to recover from fully.  But after some peer pressure from a reader soul searching, I realize I miss you (plural “you”; I hope I still have more than one reader out there!). I also miss cooking and baking real meals and treats. I’ve come to the conclusion that I should either take stock in Amy’s Kitchen or get off my lazy butt and get into the kitchen to cook some real meals (no offense Amy, I still love you and will always need you in my life).

I had grand plans and a new recipe I wanted to try out tonight but then today happened. Not to sound too melodramatic or too cryptic but today was one of those “change your perspective on life” days. And this caused me to come home and do two things: fantasize about macaroni and cheese (comfort food) and crack open a bottle of wine. After some aforementioned soul searching I decided to create my own comfort food and not rely on the box of Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese(Annie, don’t be jealous…I love you as much as I love Amy) sitting in my pantry. So, after approximately one glass of this:

I decided to make this:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Pasta*

*This recipe name may or may not have been influenced by the consumption of alcohol

Ingredients:

• 1 serving of pasta
• 1 avocado (feel free to cut this down to 1/2…it’s pretty rich)
• 2 garlic cloves
• juice of 1/2 lime
• handful of minced cilantro
• dash of salt

Yup, it’s that simple…can you see where this is going? I figured why not break my lazy cooking habit with the easiest fastest recipe I could think of. And the perk…it’s all green, just like ninja turtles! (I know it’s a stretch but please just go with it, it’s been a long day).

I cooked the pasta per the directions on the box. I used Barilla whole wheat thin spaghetti.

And while the pasta cooked I prepared the sauce. I mashed the majority of an avocado (my avocado was looking a wee bit rough so I carved out the good parts and fed my dogs threw away the rest). I mixed my mashed avocado with 2 cloves of minced garlic. I left it kind of chunky because I wanted to…if you want you could process this into a smooth sauce.

When the pasta was done cooking I tossed the pasta with the avocado/garlic mixture and I used the juice of 1/2 lime and topped with cilantro and a dash of salt.

And that my friends is it. I’m not going to lie…I was worried that the combination of lime and pasta was a concoction that only a drunk fool (read: me) could come up with but it works, it really works. This pasta is super rich and super satisfying. In fact, I would probably cut the avocado down to about 1/2 of an avocado.  But don’t you fret…I finished every last bite of this. And then I drank those two additional glasses of wine and came up with this genius (not so much) title for the recipe. Also, this recipe is vegan!

Please don’t judge me too much’; I’m a bit rusty. As someone has so eloquently pointed out, I haven’t posted for a while (this one is for you, and you know who you are).

And on that note a PSA:

Please please take the time to shout out to the people you care about; you never know when you may see them again. And always go to the doctor when something doesn’t feel right. Trust me, life is incredibly precious and I for one realize very clearly today how much I take advantage of it.

Much love,

Jamie