Spicy Herb Pasta

Spicy Herb Pasta

There is a bottle of spicy olive oil in the cabinet that has been untouched for weeks. Every time I reach in for something I hear it screaming at me. This recipe is just for you. Though it’s not apparent in the photos, you’re what makes this dish so good.

Serving Size: ~3-4

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. of whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 1/2-2 cups of cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup of pitted kalamata olives
• 2 tbsp of water
• ~1 tbsp of brown sugar
• 3 tbsp of dried herbs*
• 1 1/2 loose cups of fresh basil
• Olive oil for sauteing
• Spicy Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• salt and pepper to taste

* I used a mix of thyme, rosemary, sage & oregano. Use fresh herbs if available.

To Make:

Step 1: in a large pot, boil spaghetti (follow package instructions), drain and set aside

Trader Joe’s organic whole wheat spaghetti w/o the wheaty taste

Step 2: wash and slice tomatoes

Step 3: slice olives

Step 4: wash and cut basil (chiffonade if you wish)

Step 5: in a lightly oiled pan, saute tomatoes, olives and herbs on medium heat for 3-5 minutes

Step 6: sprinkle sugar, water and saute for 1-2 minutes

Step 7: in the same pan on low heat, mix in spaghetti, drizzle with spicy olive oil, add salt & pepper to taste

Step 8: turn off heat and mix in basil

Enjoy!

Creamy Yogurt Pesto

yogurt pesto on crusty multi-grain 

This is an untraditional pesto. The only things similar are the basil leaves and garlic. I like this pesto because it is creamy and a bit tangy. It’s just as versatile, but gives you a slightly different taste. You can use this recipe as a spread or dressing and it also makes an amazing pesto pasta.

Ingredients:

• ~3 loose cups of basil leaves
• ~3/4 cup of walnuts*
• ~1/4 cup of pecans*
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• ~1 cup of greek yogurt (I used Fage Total 0%)
• 1/2- 1 tsp of chili flakes (depends on your tolerance)
• salt and pepper to taste

*I wanted to use my extra walnuts and pecans; hence the weird ratio. Feel free to play with the ratio or use different nuts.

Step 1: add your walnuts, pecans and garlic

Step 2: add your basil leaves

Step 3: add everything else

Step 4: blend (I’m using the Ninja)

creamy yogurt pesto (she’s not photogenic)

To Serve:

Step 1: dice some cherry tomatoes

Step 2: toast some bread

photo taken from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes (PBS)

Step 3: serve with some cracked black pepper

I used the whole grain loaf from La Brea Bakery.

serve it alone

with some hummus (learn to make hummus)

or serve it together!

Enjoy!

Chunky Avocado Spread

When I decided to make my Southwest Jalapeno Patty, I really wanted to add some avocado to it. I absolutely love avocado with everything-especially burgers and sandwiches! I think that it adds such a great flavor to the food. It’s also adds a good some good oils to your diet. I wanted to make something a little different that wasn’t just your typical avocado slice. I thought an avocado spread would be a refreshing twist to adding avocado on the burger/sandwich complex.

Below is the recipe and I encourage you to play with the amounts used to get a spread suitable to your taste. If you like something a little more tart, add some more lemon juice. If you want something with a little more avocado, add another one!

Ingredients

• Handful of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 Avocado
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• Handful of Parsley and/or Cilantro (I used a little bit of both)
• 1 Tablespoon of Honey
• Salt & Pepper to taste

To Make

• Cut avocado into bit size pieces and toss into bowl
• Finely chop parsley and cilantro and toss into bowl
• Cut tomatoes to desired size (I sliced in half)
• Add rest of ingredients and mix

I added this tangy/sweet delicious avocado spread to my burger below. It will go well with any sandwich, burger or nice piece of toast.

Enjoy!