I love cold pastas for lunch, when I actually put forth the energy to eat something besides Goldfish crackers or greek yogurt with granola for lunch.  (C’mon, you know you do it too.)

This Creamy Dairy-Free Alfredo is deceptively easy and packed with protein.  Here’s the recipe for my go-to quick lunch pasta that gets gobbled up faster than you can say arrivederci.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Dried Penne Noodles – I use gluten-free rice noodles or Quinoa Noodles
• 1 Pint Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, Halved and chilled
• As many delicious cooked shrimp as you can afford.  I typically use approximately 20-25 smallish shrimp.
• 1 Avocado, pitted
• 1 Lemon, juiced
• 1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• Garlic Salt & Cracked Pepper

Directions:

1. Boil your pasta.  Beware that the time between al dente and overdone with quinoa noodles is about as fast as a ripe avocado turns the color of February street slush.
2. While noodles are warm but not hot, add all ingredients and stir until you get a creamy pasta “sauce” with the lemon, avocado, mustard, and a bit of the tomato that will start to seep into the pasta.

Because of the raw tomato, this doesn’t last in the refrigerator more than a day without getting wattery, so don’t plan to make several meals out of this delicious, chilled, awesome pasta.

Bon Apetit!