I have a confession to make... I love Spaghetti Squash. What? You have never heard of spaghetti squash!?! But... its... amazing! What is it, you ask? Its a large yellow squash, that when cooked the middle comes out stringy like spaghetti. Then you can pair it with virtually anything you would pair noodles with. The kicker is... its HEALTHY. I know. I know. I just made pasta night have a new meaning.
Since moving I've been doing a lot of cooking. And of course pinterest.com has come to the inspiration rescue more than once. Little hint... just type in spaghetti squash in the search box and see how many recipes come up... there are a ton. Luckily, I stumbled upon this little gem http://bevcooks.com/2011/10/southwestern-stuffed-spaghetti-squash/
Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash.My boyfriend, who had never had spaghetti squash before, now loves it too. I think I have made this version 3 or 4 times in the last 2 months, and each time I add a little more to it.
This is what a spaghetti squash looks like :)
The next step is to cut it in half lengthwise, then place it cut sides down in a casserole dish with a about an inch of water in it and bake it for 30 to 40 minutes on about 350 degrees. While it is baking go ahead and start chopping up your veggies and sauteeing them. Red onion, red and green bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeno. How spicy you want it is completely up to you, I started leaving the seeds in the jalapeno and using hotter chili powder. Once those have sauteed you are going to add in some seasoning, the drained black beans (this last time I used black beans with jalapeno and lime in them), and the frozen corn. Your last step once these are all warm will be to add the cilantro. Don't forget TASTE AS YOU GO!! That is the biggest mistakes cooks can make is to not taste. Here are some of my ingredients.
After the squash is done you take it out of the oven and you can let it cool some... however if you are like me and always in a rush... I never let it cool and use a oven mitt to hold the rind of the squash. Hold the rind and with a fork you can scoop or shred out the inside of the squash. Yeah I probably should have take a picture of that... but I didn't. Once you see it.. it is super easy and comes out stringy. I take the squash and put it in the pan with the vegetables and mix it all together. Taste again to see if you need more seasoning.
Looks delish so far right? Then refill the rind with the mixture... and top off with cheddar cheese, maybe even layer some cheese in it. The best cheese I've found was chipotle cheddar... Yum! Once that's all situated pop it back in the oven for about 10 minutes. Just til the cheese is melted. Easiest way to serve if there are two of you... cut one rind in half... (if its a small squash) and put it on the plate. The first time we ate this... we ate the whole squash it was that good!
Viola! Best part... it's healthy! And you don't really need any sides. I do think it might be good with tortillas though that would kind of kill the no carb part of the meal. Try it. Google spaghetti squash, there are a TON of ways to make it. Good luck and expect to love it!
