Recipe:
This creamy pasta is the ultimate beauty recipe– it contains three of my Top 10 beauty foods: walnuts, spinach, and tomatoes. Plus, it has avocado, which is loaded with heart-healthy fats that keep you feeling full. Spinach is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that keep our eyes healthy; tomatoes provide the anti-aging antioxidant lycopene, and the fats in walnuts keep skin soft and smooth.
This pasta dish has all of the flavors of a traditional pesto, and is smooth and creamy. Rather than a paste, it’s more of a sauce. The nutritional yeast provides a slightly nutty and cheesy flavor without adding lots of calories or saturated fat. Dress up the dish by using spaghetti or linguine and arrange the tomatoes on top. You can also use shells or rotini and serve it cold as a pasta salad.
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
1⁄4 cup walnuts
1 packed cup fresh spinach
1⁄2 packed cup fresh basil
1 ripe avocado
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3⁄4 cup cold vegetable broth
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
1 lb whole wheat pasta (any shape), cooked
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
Instructions:
In a blender, add garlic and walnuts and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add spinach, basil, flesh from avocado, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, vegetable broth, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Toss pasta with the pesto until it is fully coated. Mix in cherry tomatoes.
Yields: 8 servings
Per serving: 265 calories, 10 g protein, 46.5 g carbohydrates, 7.3 g fiber, 2 g sugars, 6.8 g fat, 0.9 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 190.3 mg sodium, 34.3 mg calcium, 0 g omega-3 fats, 623.4 IU vitamin A, 6.2 mg vitamin C, 0.6 mg vitamin E, 2.6 mg iron, 2 mg zinc
Lisa Drayer, M.A., R.D.,
is the author of THE BEAUTY DIET and STRONG, SLIM, and 30! For more of Lisa’s Beauty Bites, visit www.lisadrayer.com.