Trying to eat a little healthier? Well, aren’t we all. I like to eat
healthier, but I don’t like to really know I’m eating healthy. Surprise me! I
want the food to still taste delicious and feel like I haven’t missed a thing.
That’s probably what we all want. Well look no further, this little hidden gem,
spaghetti squash is just the trick. We’ve been using it for years instead of
pasta. It’s great as your main dish covered with a meat sauce, or great as a
side tossed with some olive oil, parmesan cheese or even pesto. So many great
things you can do with spaghetti squash. Since I was very excited when I
discovered this little treasure, I hope you will be too. I’m just going to help
you cook it correctly, and then you can get crazy with your toppings. All you
need is a spaghetti squash to get started. Below is a picture of one in case you
have no idea what to look for in the grocery store.
Can you tell how I knew this was a spaghetti squash??? |
Now the easy method for cooking spaghetti squash is to steam it, which is
my preferred method. You can also bake it for about 45 minutes, but I prefer to
microwave it for about 7 minutes. Take your spaghetti squash and cut it down the
middle. They are thick, so get a big knife and be careful!
Now that you have it cut open, let’s clean the seeds out. The easies way is
to just get a spoon and scoop out all the seeds and guts that are in the center.
If you have a grapefruit spoon, that’s the perfect tool for this.
Okay, it’s all clean and we are ready to steam it. My microwave steamer
isn’t large enough to accommodate a squash this size so I just used a corning
ware dish and covered with the glass lid. You don’t need an actual steamer to
get this done. So many easy work arounds. Now, put about 1/2 inch of water in
the pot you are using as a steamer, place the squash cut side down, cover and
microwave for about 7 minutes. A squash this size is about 7 minutes, adjust the
cook time for one larger or smaller. When you take the squash out, flip it over
and test with a fork to see if it is soft. If it still feels hard, put it back
in for another minute.
Once you are certain it’s done, let’s start making spaghetti! It’s magical!
You just need a fork and your best scraping skills. The squash will be hot so
you might want to use a hot pad to hold it. Grip the squash and start scraping
with the fork. Little strands will come loose and you’ll be making spaghetti.
Wasn’t the fun and easy?
I served mine with a little marinara sauce topped with basil. Like I said,
there are so many ways to serve this. Next time, I’m serving with a little
pesto. Let me know your creative ways of serving spaghetti squash. Enjoy!