Avocado-Cilantro Cream Angel Hair

This is such a delightful spring dish. It also happens to be counting as my "green" today. If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram you know that my morning was pretttty shitttty. Needless to say, I completely forgot it was St. Patrick's Day and ran out of the house thankful to be on time for work (breastases aren't going to be mammogramin' themselves you know), let alone wearing green. Lucky for me (I'm part Irish), not a single person pinched me today. Whew! 

If you happen to be one of those poor souls who hates cilantro (I hear it's genetic...no, seriously) stay far, far away from this dish. Same goes if you strongly dislike avocados. However, I have yet to meet such a person and will totally notify you if I ever do. Who hates avocados?

This is one luxurious dish. Angel hair pasta bathes in a light and dreamy avocado-cilantro cream sauce. It's a bit sweet, with a hint of ginger and zesty lime. Barring any anger towards cilantro or avocado...you're going to love it. You'll also love that it's done in the time it takes to boil up some pasta! And that's something we can all be thankful for. 

Side Note: It's weird to me now that I used to make pasta sauces sans veggies. Like non-vegan, traditional mac & cheese and alfredo sauce. My vegan mac & cheese is made with sweet potato and my alfredo sauce with cashews and cauliflower. Then there's this delicious cream sauce with cilantro and avocado. Ponderous. How sad and boring (not to mention lacking some superfly nutrients) it must be for people to make traditional pasta sauces. They don't know what they're missing...and that makes my heart all glum. 

Avocado-Cilantro Cream Angel Hair

Serves 6

Notes: The pasta should be done at the same time, or just after the sauce. You don't want it to sit cooked. 

• 16 oz. angel hair pasta, dry
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 6 large garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 large ripe avocados, pitted
• 1 large bunch of cilantro (stems and all)
• 3 limes, juiced
• 1 small knob of fresh ginger, peeled and rough chopped
• 1/2 cup plain non-dairy milk
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. When boiling, cook according to package which is usually about five minutes. Drain and return to pot. 

Meanwhile, heat the 1 tsp. of olive oil in a small saute pan. Add the garlic and saute for a few minutes, until browned and fragrant. Remove from heat. 

In a food processor, add the remaining ingredients including the sauteed garlic. Process until smooth and creamy. 

Add the sauce to the cooked and drained pasta, stir well to coat. 

Serve hot. 

Careful not to break your juicer! Todd doesn't know his own strength...

Oh dear. 

Listening to Yuna – Someone Who Can

Good Deed of The Day: Don't even get me started on the parents that buy little chicks and baby bunnies for their kids on Easter, let alone if they're dyed. I'm going to just stop right there. Sign this petition to help Julie Burge, the director of Burge Bird Rescue, stop the selling of baby chicks, ducks, and bunnies for Easter. It only takes 5 seconds. You'll find my signature there! 

German Word of The Day: Cream (with regards to food) --> Sahne (pronounced: Zahn-neh)  - Remember, I am not German...regardless of how much I might pretend. I am learning the language though! If you ever see that I am wrong *gasp* or just have something to add, please do! We're all learning together and I love the additions!Be Recipe Card

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Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash Veggie Bowl

I've been wanting to make this dish for quite some time. So long in fact, that the spaghetti squash I bought a week, a month ago had started to look pretty, well...sad. It was time. I couldn't put it off any longer. You see, spaghetti squash is my kitchen nemesis. I dread cutting them open. So, I usually opt for some much friendly squash to murder like, say, acorn squash. Butternut can still be pretty tough but delicata is my BFF in the squash world. That shit's like cutting butter. Plus, the rind is edible which is the bees knees in my book.    I've never actually harmed myself (or anyone else!) while trying to dismember a squash, but it's only a matter of time. Really. However, I'm excited to say that this dish was absolutely and totally worth it. If you want to cook spaghetti squash but your stronger significant other/roommate/random stranger isn't home to help you, don't fret. If I can do it, then you too possess the power to murder that godforsaken spaghetti squash.  

My best advice is to just take it slow. It probably took me about 15 minutes to crack this badboy open. No joke. I've heard of people microwaving the squash first to soften it, but then...you still have to wait for it to cool, so it probably takes just as long. Maybe I'm just a wimp. Am I making a big deal out of this squash thing? Who knows, but I think we've adequately examined this issue. Moving on. 

Back to this bowl! Okay, super yummy. I may (or may not!) have just been eating the sauce from the blender with a spoon. Whaaat? Don't judge me! I had a tough day yesterday. There's really not much to say except this veggie bowl is full of healthy buddies like squash, yams, broccoli, kale, and cashews for crunch of course. Mint, cilantro, sesame seeds and a Thai lime peanut sauce top it off. 

Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash Veggie Bowl 

Inspired by The First Mess

Serves 4-6

• --For The Bowl--
• 1 large spaghetti squash, roasted
• 1 head of broccoli florets, chopped
• 1 medium garnet yam, diced (or sweet potato)
• half a bunch of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cashews or peanuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
• sesame seeds (to garnish)
• --For The Sauce--
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp. erythritol or sugar
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce 
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh ginger paste (or 1 Tbsp. sliced fresh ginger)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. fresh ground chili paste
• 1 lime, peeled and chopped (no seeds or pith!)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Very carefully cut the squash in half, veggie hot dog style. This is always terrifying for me, hopefully you possess better squash murdering skills than I do! Place  the two halves on a baking sheet, face down. Bake at 350 F for about 1 hour. When done, a knife tip should pierce the outside fairly easily. Allow to cool slightly before scooping out seeds. Then using a fork, string the squash meat free.

When there are about 15 minutes left for the squash. Place the chopped nuts on a baking sheet and toast for about 10-15 minutes. Careful that they don't burn! Remove and allow to cool.

While the squash cooks, steam the chopped broccoli, yam, and kale until the yam is soft. Chop the yam into pretty small pieces so you could steam them all together. Laziness for the win! They'll take about 15 minutes to steam, but check up on them. Once done, mix in the toasted nuts and set aside until ready for use. 

Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy.

Serve the veggies and nuts over a bed of stringed spaghetti squash and top it all with the Thai peanut sauce.

Garnish with sesame seeds and the chopped herbs!

Oh and an update on Oreo, apparently one of our local coffee shops put his picture on their Facebook page yesterday and now he's off the shelter list! So, I guess he got adopted. This is a wonderful thing...aside from the fact that he was supposed to be mine! Todd had even said I could inquire about him! I called the shelter but no one picked up. Argh! Not to worry though, there are two other dogs at the shelter that I have my little doggie-loving eyes on...

Listening to Lenka – Anything I'm Not

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Smoky Paprika Pumpkin Soup

Today has been the pits. Nothing in particular, just work stuff. It could possibly be that I'm just super irritable today, for reasons that I can not seem to deduce. On my lunch, I normally run for an hour...today...I laid on the ultrasound bed and watched a Bones on my iPhone. It was pretty pathetic but honestly, quite nice. Well anyways, my day was made exponentially better by the discovery of Season 5 Parks & Recreation being added to Netflix! Woot, woot! I had to share this wonderful news, in case some readers are Parks & Rec fans and they were uninformed. Of course, I realize most people just watch it on the actual TV, but I was late on to that boat so I am forced to watch it on Netflix. This is very exciting news for Todd and I. Almost as exciting as this pumpkin soup!

Why is this soup so exciting? Two reasons. For one, I'm not really too experienced with pumpkin. Okay, let's be real, before this recipe, I had never even cooked with it! I'm talking like a real, round, actual pumpkin. Not canned pumpkin. This soup was a pretty rad way to get into. I'm in love! So, clearly, this was very exciting for me.

And two, this soup is so, so lovely and absolutely delectable. It is completely velvety, creamy and melts in one rich, smoky, pumpkin packed bite in the mouth. It has made the list as one of my all-time favorite soups and is just perfect for the season! So if you've been on the fence about making a pumpkin soup (it's kinda weird, right?), start out with this recipe and you won't be disappointed! 

Smoky Paprika Pumpkin Soup

Inspired by Verses From My Kitchen

Serves 6

• 1 small pumpkin (about 2 lbs.) peeled and cubed
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 4 whole sprigs of thyme (or additional dried)
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 15 oz. can of full-fat coconut milk
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp. chipotle chili powder (to taste)
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• sprinkle of ground black pepper
• pepitas, for garnish (optional) 

Heat the oil in a large soup pot and saute the onions, garlic and thyme until fragrant, about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, peel the pumpkin and cut in half. I just used a potato peeler! Scoop out the seeds (roast or discard) and cube the pumpkin. 

Add in the cubed pumpkin and continue to saute for an additional 10 minutes, or until the pumpkin begins to just become softened. Then, add in the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a fork. 

Transfer carefully to a blender and whiz on high until silky and smooth. Make sure to allow the blender to vent at the lid or else you could have a hot soup explosion, and that's never good. It's never happened to me, but I've heard stories.

Serve hot with additional thyme, paprika and pepitas, if you wish! 

Grumpy, and listening to The Heavy – How You Like Me Now

This is me...

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