Thursday, October 25, 2012

Roasted Spaghetti Squash Bowl



I have been converted. I am never eating regular spaghetti noodles again! Well, at least not as long as I have time to roast a spaghetti squash. Who would have guessed that a vegetable could taste so much like pasta? The best part is that this does not require any fancy equipment, just a fork! It is much healthier for you than pasta, helps you get a huge dose of veggies, and even keeps well in the fridge for leftovers. I paired a homemade roasted tomato sauce and some veggies with it and it was scrumptious. Here is my recipe below, but feel free to use whatever sauce and choice of veggies that you would like!

Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash
6 roma tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 sweet onion
5 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 teaspoon organic sugar

Optional Veggies
Red bell pepper
Green bell pepper
Zuccini
Or add in whatever other veggies you would like!

Begin by pre-heating your oven to 375 F. Slice the stem top off your spaghetti squash and cut it in half (going to have to use your muscles for this part, but it will happen so stick with it!). Scoop out the seeds, and place the squash halves side by side with the cut part facing down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven. Then get out a baking dish and the Roma tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in half, place in baking dish with cut sides up, and place below the squash in the oven to roast. Set your timer for 40 minutes.

While the squash and tomatoes are roasting, slice and sauté the garlic and onion, set aside. Then chop any veggies you wish to use, and measure out the rest of your sauce ingredients.

When the squash and tomatoes are finished roasting, remove from the oven, flip the squash over carefully (it will be HOT) and let it cool a bit while you prepare the sauce. Place your roasted tomatoes and the rest of your ingredients (basil leaves through sugar) in either a food processor or large high speed blender. Add the sauce and chopped veggies to a small sauce pan, bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and let cook for 5-7 minutes (or until veggies reach desired tenderness). While the sauce and veggies are simmering, use a fork to scrape the sides of the spaghetti squash to make the noodles. You can't mess it up so scrape away! If your squash is quite large, you will have more than a single serving for each half, so remove your desired amount of noodles for you and whoever you are serving, and refrigerate the extra for another day. I picked out a smaller squash so one half was the perfect serving for me (I can also eat a ton of this stuff, so maybe that contributed to it.). Top your noodles (whether is be in the squash itself or in another bowl) with the sauce and veggie mixture, and dive in!



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