I can't believe the weekend is over...for once it was a nice, quiet weekend that didn't involve rushing from one end of town to the other. Mr.S. had the kidlets so we hung out, watched movies, went to the farmers market and played outside. I know I'm trying to enjoy the cooler, sunny weather now because I'm sure Sacramento's scorching summer is just around the corner (ugh!). We went for a few walks down by the river on Sunday and even took Kidlet #2 geocaching. I'd never been on a geocache before and it was kind of neat...it's like a mini-treasure hunt using a special GPS app on the iPhone. We actually found the "cache" during our excursion, which turned out be a tiny camo micro capsule with a log inside (some caches are larger and may contain a trinket or two). We signed our names and returned the capsule to it's hiding spot. Can't wait until we go again!




Later still on the lazy train, I didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking for dinner but wanted something healthy...so I decided to use one of the beautiful avocados I had on the counter to make a simple avocado pasta. The avocado sauce has a nice creamy texture that tastes rich and the basil and lemon give it a nice zesty zing. If you want to make it gluten-free like I did, you can use quinoa pasta.  Also, if you want to jazz it up a bit you could sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, halved grape tomatoes or sliced almonds on it.


Lazy Weekend Avocado Pasta (recipe adapted from Oh She Glows)

Ingredients

1 medium sized ripe avocado, pitted

1/2 lemon, juiced, plus  lemon zest to garnish

2-3 garlic cloves, minced (to taste)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup fresh basil

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 servings (about 6 oz) quinoa pasta

freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)


Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add quinoa pasta and cook for 7-9 minutes (or per package instructions).

2. While the pasta is cooking: in a food processor, add the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, basil, avocado and salt. Process until you have a nice, creamy sauce. You may need to scrape the sides a few times to make sure everything gets blended well, the basil likes to stick.

3. When the pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse noodles. Place pasta in a bowl and add avocado sauce. Toss well. Then plate.

4. Season with fresh ground pepper and garnish with a sprinkling of lemon zest. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (optional).

5. Serve immediately. (Note: This is not a good "reheat dish," since it has avocado in it.)


Makes 2 servings