Avocado Pasta

So in an attempt to have a healthier diet, I have decided to start eating vegan about 80% of the time. I'm sure you all remember that I was a vegetarian (sometimes pescitarian) for over eight years, so cutting out meat is easy. Cutting out dairy and eggs is a little harder, but I don't eat much of those anyway! The remaining 20% of my diet will remain normal and will be saved for restaurant reviews and baking. I know that vegan baking is possible and is quite popular, and I might try my hand at it a few times, but for the time being I will leave my baking alone. After all, butter is pretty great :).
Right now, I am trying to use up all of the ingredients in my pantry before I move home for the summer (in one month exactly!). I stocked up my pantry very well at the beginning of the semester and am now finding myself with various odds and ends: half a box of spaghetti, a ton of white rice, some soba noodles, and lots of oils and vinegars. I also have about half a dozen frozen avocados in my freezer because my wonderful Grandparents sent me a whole box from California! You can see where this is going.
I found this amazing avocado pasta recipe from Damn Delicious. I was skeptical to try it at first but once I did, I was hooked. It's so easy! All you do is cook the pasta, blend the avocado with some lemon juice, olive oil, basil, and garlic, and then toss it all together with some vegetables. How simple is that?

I didn't even thaw the avocado halves all the way, although my blender was not happy about that. I had to add some warm water to loosen it up a little bit but the end result was still amazing.
You can change up the vegetables if you want, but I followed the original recipe and added cherry tomatoes and frozen yellow corn.

Avocado Pasta

Serves 2

Ingredients:

6 oz. Thin Spaghetti

1 ripe avocado (halved, peeled, and seeded)

1 T lemon juice

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

2T + 2t olive oil

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (quartered)

1/4 cup frozen yellow corn

Instructions:

1. Cook the spaghetti in salted water according to the package instructions. Drain well and set aside.
2. Combine the avocado, lemon juice, garlic, basil, and salt and pepper in a blender or food processor and pulse until more or less pureed. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and process until smooth. If needed, add a few tablespoons of hot water.
3. Toss the pasta, avocado puree, tomatoes, and corn together in a large bowl.
4. Eat.

Source: Damn Delicious