Battle Spaghetti Squash

I didn't make any formal Resolutions this year, but I did make a few informal ones ("informal" as in not written down- if it's not written, I can't break it), and one of those is a commitment to healthier, fresher eating.

I think we eat fairly well. Not gold-star level, but maybe worthy of a slightly torn silver one. But we can do better. We could utilize more fresh ingredients and our recipe repertoire could definitely be expanded. In pursuit of this goal we've been spending more time in the produce section of the grocery store and introducing new fruits and veggies to our kitchen. We spent Friday night perusing the aisles of Whole Foods with Landon standing point in the cart exclaiming over all the fruits and veggies ("they're so pretty mama!") - oh, the exciting life we lead.

Last night I attempted the mighty spaghetti squash. The Pioneer Woman linked to a post on her Tasty Kitchen site all about this handsome vegetable. I was intrigued and decided to take the plunge. JP was wary. Landon was delighted with the phrase "spaghetti squash" and kept pushing his step stool over to the kitchen counter to give the squash pets. The battle began at 6:00.

First up, you need to roast the squash. I cooked mine at 375 for 50 minutes.

Here it is, ready to be baked:

While this was happening, the boys went on a long walk with the dogs and I sat on the couch re-reading the last few chapters of the 5th Percy Jackson book because I speed-read them the first time very late Friday night. It's a fun finish to the series. Since I was on my own, I asked Lilly if she wanted to be my sous chef. She was super excited about the opportunity.

I also used the downtime to chop up some onion and parsley to toss with the squash. I kept some grape tomatoes and lemon on hand because I hadn't decided what else I was going to add. Ignore the cantaloupe and the basil plant- they're just bystanders.

Here is the mighty squash fully roasted. It's basically the exact same, but hotter.

And softer. It was very easy to cut in half, except for the stem- that was still tough, so I lobbed off the whole end to eliminate the resistance.

Next up you scoop out all the seeds. It's actually kind of tricky- the strings are strong and slippery and I kept freaking out that I was scooping out the "spaghetti" part of the "spaghetti squash." As it turns out, you can scrape away because you'll know when you get the real squashy stuff. I used a spoon, a knife, and then a grapefruit spoon. The ridged grapefruit spoon was most effective.

Then, and this is the magical part, you just take a fork and start pulling at the squash. It looks smooth and solid, but it's actually a whole bunch of noodles compacted together. It's amazing and I kept making JP come look at it so he could share in the wonder.

Ta-da! A bowl full of squash noodles!

They were so pretty, but I wasn't sure what to do next. I'd read a bunch of recipes on-line and decided to start with sautéing some onions and garlic in olive oil and butter. Then I was torn between adding lemon or tomato, but I was craving tomatoes, so I threw in a few of those. Then I added the squash and topped it all with fresh parsley and freshly grated parmesan.

And it was good- intriguing at first, and then quite tasty. But I needed more. I always try to like the "toss it with some butter and salt and pepper" directions but I invariably end up dumping in more ingredients. JP and I both liked it topped with spaghetti sauce. The noodles were still a little crunchy, so I don't think the full squash flavor had developed. Next time I plan to roast it longer and then go the simple route with lemon. JP still ate three bowls.

One down- and upside of the spaghetti squash is that it wasn't nearly as filling as regular spaghetti. One cup of pasta has 200 calories while a cup of spaghetti squash has less than 50. For someone like JP who spent his day swimming for 2 hours, lifting weights, and then going on an hour long walk- he needed the full pound of regular pasta. He was still hungry, so after dinner he made a big batch of blueberry pancakes and ate every one.

I, on the other hand, appreciated the lightness of the squash and celebrated my foray into spaghetti squashdom by making my own little after dinner snack.

The ingredients:

The final product:

Delicious! A fresh eating success.