Spaghetti Squash
Emily asked about this yesterday in the What's On The Menu thread, and I thought I'd post my experiences with it here. Personally, I love spaghetti squash. I got in the habit of eating it years ago when I first tried dieting with Atkins and South Beach. It's definitely not pasta, but it's a good substitute IMO. It has very little flavor of its own, and is best used as a vehicle for other flavors, like butter, salt and pepper, or marinara sauce. The other good thing about it is that it's kind of "scrubby" on your insides, LOL! If you're having trouble going, spaghetti squash may help with that problem! Little known fact: The squashes we eat are young spaghetti squash. When they mature and ripen, they turn into loofahs!
I can now find them in my local supermarket in nice, individual serving (or two) size. One word of caution: Don't follow any recipe on the internet that tells you you can cook them completely in the microwave. If you try it, you may have the same results I did the first time I gave it a shot:
Please note that this was a whole squash, I had not cut it at all before it went in. The husbeast was quite amused, as you can probably tell!
Here's how to do it the right way, instead: Take a spaghetti squash and poke it all over with a small sharp knife, like a paring knife. You want about a dozen holes spaced all over the skin of the squash. Microwave on High for five minutes, and ONLY five minutes. This will soften the outside skin enough so that you can cut it more easily. Remove the squash from the oven and cut it in half along the long axis. Using a very sharp knife helps, the skin can be a little tough. Remove the seeds with a spoon and discard them. Brush the cut sides with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put it on a baking sheet cut side down (give the baking sheet a quick shot with cooking spray first), cover loosely with a sheet of foil, and place into a 375 degree oven. The length of time you'll have to cook it for will vary depending on the size of the squash, really small ones can cook in 30 minutes or so, larger ones may need up to 45 to 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when you can easily pierce the skin with a fork.
Once it's done, take it out of the oven and let it cool for about five minutes until you can handle it. Place half the squash on a folded up dishtowel in the palm of one hand, and using a fork, scrape the flesh out of the shell. Once you try it you'll see how the "strands" are oriented, and you can easily pull them out with the fork.
Once you have the strands separated from the skins, season them and serve. They're great with butter, salt and pepper, and some grated parmesan! They'll keep in the fridge for a couple of days.
Surgery: RNY on 12/18/2013 with Jay M. Snow, MD "Don't mistake my kindness for weakness." - Robert Herjavec, quoting Al Capone
Mmmm Pam! Awesome recipe! The one they did on the Food Network was similar. They didn't micro it for five minutes but they did cut it in half, scoop out the innards, rub it with olive oil and salt and pepper, and put it face down and bake it. They used a pesto as a sauce - and their pesto was parsley and pecan and garlic and olive oil and asiago. It looked good! I may have to try this...though I don't think I need to start with an entire spaghetti squash so I may wait until I am hosting a dinner party :) Thanks for sharing this!
