lemon, avocado (and more!) spaghetti sauce

As someone with pretty severe dietary restrictions, I have formed somewhat of a love-hate relationship with pasta over the past few years. Of course it’s delicious, it’s filling, and it’s perfect for providing enough energy to get me through my intensive weekly workouts—I mean, even little kids love it. But for individuals who cannot digest red-sauce, Alfredo sauce, or even a simple butter-garlic sauce —the struggle is real.

One can only alternate balsamic vinegar and soy sauce in dressing their pasta for so long. So, in an expansion of a wonderful avocado lemon sauce—brought to me by a woman of great taste, Anne-Sophie Deman—I decided to post a light, oil-free, dairy free, preservative free pasta sauce to remind everyone that alternative spaghetti sauces do exist. 

 

Luckily it’s also easy.

Ingredients:

• 2 whole avocados
• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1 box whole grain spaghetti (or gluten free pasta)
• ½ cup almond milk
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• ½ medium pear, finely chopped

Steps:

1. Bring a medium sized pot of water to boil. Add spaghetti and let cook for 8-12 minutes.
2. Chop the avocados into small cube-like pieces and place them in the blender, along with the lemon juice, spinach, parsley and pear. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour sauce into a different bowl, and stir in the almond milk. 
4. Once fully mixed, apply the sauce to the pasta. Toss to get an even coating.

 (Side note: if you taste the sauce by itself, and find it hard to imagine on pasta, have faith, I promise it works. Though maybe try adding the sauce in small amounts to the pasta, to see how much suits you.) 

What I love about this sauce is the lightness. The only fat in this recipe is from the avocado, which is healthy fat. The lemon and parsley give a nice light citrus flavor combination, while the pear adds a hint of sweetness. I should warn you however, if you are looking for a very strong flavor-blasted meal, this is not for you. The flavors of each ingredient come across in a very subtle manner once applied to the spaghetti, which is why this is great for those with dietary restrictions.

Now for the good stuff: nutrient value. I want to preface this with a few facts about sodium levels in the United States.

The FDA recommends we get around 1500 mg of sodium per day, and 2,300mg at the max—to prevent things like high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and kidney failure. The current daily average for US citizens, sadly, happens to be around 3500 mg. The reason I am noting these facts is this: jarred spaghetti sauces are among the top foods containing excessive amounts of sodium, with upwards of 600mg per serving (which is only ½ cup, so yeah, not much).You might also be interested in learning some surprising other foods saltier than potato chips.

I guarantee you wont find nearly as much sodium in this homemade veggie sauce as you would in any jarred or canned store bought pasta sauce. Now, on that note, for people with high levels of sodium in their diets, the FDA recommendation is to eat foods high in potassium to offset this sodium.

So at last, we come to the avocado. Avocados have more potassium than bananas—making this sauce not only a great way to reduce your sodium intake, but a great way to fight the adverse effects of high sodium levels, and keep yourself healthy while indulging in spaghetti.