“I love squash. Squashy squash squash. Here it goes down. Down into my belly.” At least that’s what Ron Burgundy said, right? Or something like that!
I do love spaghetti squash and as a lovely fall veggie, it’s the star of this week’s blog. For the novices, I’ll start with how to prepare spaghetti squash then provide a few different recipes including one that is, in essence, just spaghetti made of the squash. Yes Adam Schaeuble, you can make it!
First, you have to get your hands on it. It can be grown in your garden (too late for this year!) or is available at grocery stores everywhere. I don’t buy it unless it’s $0.99/lb or cheaper and about a month ago caught it on sale for $0.59/lb so, yep, I bought 4! It’s in the produce section around the other squashes, especially acorn and butternut, but basically it’s a rounded, oval of a squash, pale to bright yellow in color.
Next, you gotta cook it. Generally, you’ll find many recipes for roasting spaghetti squash. In a nutshell (or squash shell) this involves cutting the squash long ways from stem to bottom and scooping out the very center pulp and seeds like you would a pumpkin. Next, you can drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some seasonings on the cut sides and place the halves cut-side down on a baking sheet. Then, you roast the heck out of it for something like 30, 40, 50 minutes? Who has time for that? I mean, if you do, knock yourself out because roasted veggies are delish! But me, I don’t have time for that nonsense. I do it how my mama taught me! Using a fork, I poke holes all over the whole squash (maybe 12-15 times, you don’t have to go crazy on it!), then I pop it in the microwave for about 9-10 minutes. When done, it’ll be fairly firm still but you can push your finger against the skin and it will dent. Careful! It’ll be piping hot out of the microwave! Let it cool then, as mentioned with roasting, cut it stem to bottom and scoop out the very middle. Regardless of cooking method, once you get to this point, use a fork to scrap the strands of squash away from the outer shell – all but a thin shell will scrape away. You’ll figure out why this is called spaghetti squash in about 2 seconds!
Finally, while you could eat the squash plain, I recommend doing something with these awesome strands! Check out the ideas below:
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Spaghetti Squash
Plate the strands. Top with warmed no-sugar-added Ragu or homemade, Meltdown-friendly spaghetti sauce. Jazz up the sauce by adding diced raw or sautéed veggies (mushroom, onion, bell pepper, etc.) Don’t forget some extra seasonings if you like! Add cooked ground meat to the sauce or top it all off with a grilled chicken breast (which can be dredged in almond flour for a healthy fat option!).
Spaghetti Squash Pancakes http://daleydish.com/blog/2010/11/spaghetti-squash-pancakes.html
- 2 cups squash
- ½ cup minced onion
- Garlic powder
- 1/8 cup (=2 Tbsp) almond flour – ½ fat serving
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
Mix all in bowl and spoon rounds of batter into hot pan with a little heated oil or spray. Try to move quickly as the squash will release some liquid but the cooked pancakes are not too wet at all so the moisture is good to hold on to. You could try this same recipe with grated zucchini, carrots, etc. Despite being called pancakes, this is a savory dish that I like to serve as a side. Probably would be good with a dollop or dipping sauce of no-sugar Ragu.
Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
- Strands from 1 cooked spaghetti squash
- 1 lb cooked ground turkey/chicken
- 1 jar no-sugar Ragu or homemade Meltdown-friendly tomato sauce
- Optional – sauté veggies and grab some spices to add to the sauce!
Looking for more ideas with spaghetti squash, I threw this one together a couple of weeks ago thinking about baked spaghetti. I used a small 8-9” square glass Pyrex. I put a little sauce in the bottom in case the squash stuck. Layer some squash, meat, sauce, squash, meat, sauce, squash, sauce. I probably baked this on 350 for 15-20 min then checked on it. Doesn’t take long since everything is already cooked. Made 4 thick squares of “lasagna” that count as protein/veg.
Spaghetti Squash Crust http://joandsue.blogspot.com/2013/03/spaghetti-squash-crust-pizza.html?m=1
- 4 cups cooked squash
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- Salt and pepper
Preheat to 400 and line pizza pan with parchment paper – MUST use! Set aside. Press squash in strainer to get out moisture. In a large bowl, mix all together until combined. Let sit a few min and drain off any liquid. Press evenly onto pan. Bake 12-15 min until crust looks dry. Top and bake another 10-15 or broil a couple min. Let sit 5 min. (I haven’t had a chance to try this one yet, but I have some squash at home eager to be used…so this may be a weekend experiment! The original recipe included 1 cup of cheese which of course is not Meltdown-friendly, so I’ll be interested to see how it holds together or if I can figure out something to help hold it together. My first thought is almond flour but the less I can use the better since this counts as just veggies without the flour which would be a fat.)
There you have it, NGPTers – A plethora of spaghetti squash options to enjoy this fall! If you’re creative, see what else you can come up with using the squash or anything, really!, and let me know! I’d love to have client spotlights in the blog! Until next week, feast carb-free on L2D2, feast squashy, and as always…FEAST ON!!!
~Coach Lauren
