Guacamole Macaroni and Cheese

Love, love, love avocado!  My former job had me in California almost two months a year, and I’m pretty sure I had something with avocado in it every day.  Now that I’m based mostly in Virginia, I crave avocado.  This recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod hit the spot!  Austin thought Guacamole Mac and Cheese sounded better since it really did taste like pasta, cheese and guacamole.  What could be more delicious?

Guacamole Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
10 ounces dry elbow macaroni
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 avocados, peeled and pitted
2 tbs fresh lime juice
¼ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper
1 tbs butter
2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
1 cup skim milk
¼ cup light sour cream
1 ½ cups grated Gruyere cheese
Fresh avocado chunks, for garnish

Directions
Cook pasta in pot and set aside.  While the pasta is cooking, make the avocado sauce by placing the garlic, avocados, lime juice, sour cream, salt and pepper into a food processor.  Process until smooth.

For me, this was the tricky part because my time management with the chopping of the garlic and avocados was a little off.  To make the cheese sauce, place butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. When butter is melted, whisk in flour to create a paste (mine was very paste like, but it ended up turning out okay). Whisk in milk until smooth. Stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Add in cheese and stir until cheese is melted.

Add pasta and avocado sauce.  Stir until mixed. Garnish with fresh avocado chunks.
The lime juice is supposed to keep the avocado from browning, but that didn’t quite work.  The next day, and mac and cheese was still delicious but not very appealing to look at.  Any suggestions to help our mac and cheese keep its color?

Serves 6, 9 points a serving.  We ate this with a salad full of veggies to keep the total meal points down.