Super Easy Pasta with Avocado Sauce

Hi all.  I finished my first week of work!  I FINALLY got a nanny job.  As part of a nanny share, I'm responsible for taking care of 2 tiny babies (one 3 month old and one 7 month old) and the 7 month old's big sister after kindergarten.  I'm starting out with just the 3 month old for a couple weeks as her mom returns from maternity leave and will transition to having all babies in a couple weeks!  It's so nice to finally be working.  As Michelle knows, too much free time is not my friend.  Speaking of Michelle:

Puppy Selfie

Sleepy Pup

I've been cooking a lot lately and need to catch up on blogging recipes.  Honestly, my favorite thing I've made in a long time was Sesame Peanut Noodles with Beets!  So good.  I had been craving peanut sauce for a while and finally purchased farmers' market beets and was gifted honey, paving the way for this deliciously one point sauce.  


So I guess since this blog requires more than just puppy pictures and updates on my life, let's talk about Pasta with Avocado Sauce. This was a pinterest find, as many of my recipes are lately.  I really didn't alter it from what Damn Delicious came up with.  This was fast and easy, and unlike most my recipes, I didn't have to chop vegetables forever.  It made a bunch, but I have a feeling the avocado will make it brown.  Let me know if you think of any ways to improve or add on!

Avocado with Pasta Sauce

Adapted from Damn Delicious

Za'atar Spiced Hummus

Lately, hummus has been my go-to. I've been making it in infinite combinations (sundried tomato, minted pea, and garlic have been my favorites) as well as buying all the awesome flavors at Trader Joe's. Can I tell you all that there is only one TJ's in all of Philadelphia (5th largest city in the States). Furthermore, I had to wait in line just to ENTER the store on Sunday. Luckily I had plenty of time and Nick was watching Rexie. It was insane, but worth it because caramel waffle cookies!

Brittany is here this week watching Rex and exploring Philadelphia. I have to admit I'm not a very good tour guide history-wise. Food wise, I think I'm doing ok! We went to Sketch in Fishtown yesterday to get vegan milkshakes and Dr. Pepper pulled pork sandwiches.

 

The recipe for this hummus is from Food 52. I had been wanting to make hummus from dried chickpeas for ages and I finally did it. It was just as delicious as I thought it would be. My sister Tiffany came home for a couple weeks and ate all of the hummus in one sitting. No leftovers for me!

 

 

 

1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas
6 1/2 cups water
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons good quality tahini
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 1/2 tablespoons ice cold water

1 tablespoon za'atar
Salt

Soak the chickpeas overnight. In the morning rinse chickpeas and add 6 1/2 cups cold water to a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer from 45 minutes to an hour. It really depends on the chickpeas. I started tasting them at 45 minutes. You want them to be soft but not too mushy. When they're ready, strain and let cool. So this is an Ottolenghi trick--remove the skins by popping them off of the chickpeas. It makes the hummus way more smooth. It's not necessary, but if you've got the time why not?
Then dump everything into a blender minus the ice water and za'atar and process until completely smooth. Then add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time to lighten up the hummus. Season with salt.
To serve, drizzle with lots of extra virgin olive oil and plenty of za'atar. I like to swirl some za'atar into the mixture.