Spaghetti Squash?

Ok, those of you that know me...know that I love spaghetti.  I could eat spaghetti or pasta every night of the week - if my family would let me. I even eat it cold out of the fridge the next day (so good).  But we all need a little variety in our lives and we need to focus on eating healthy.  Eating healthy doesn't have to be bland or boring.  Living in South Carolina, we are fortunate to have great farm fresh veggies and I use them alone or in pasta all the time.  So cutting, chopping and sauteing is pretty much an every night occurrence of some kind in our house.

I have a new favorite veggie that I want to share with you.  It's not new exactly, but it is a veggie that gets over looked often.  It's that big orange-ish, yellow looking thing you see in the grocery store and just keep on walking past it. Or you look at it and think...not.  It's spaghetti squash!

There are two main reasons to eat spaghetti squash. One, it is super easy to cook and two it is delicious!  That get's 5 stars in my book.  If you are trying to watch your weight or take off a few pounds or just enjoy good veggies - this is the one.  Did I tell you that this is easy?

I haven't figured out how to tell if a spaghetti squash is ripe or not.  I just pick one off the shelf and haven't been disappointed yet.  Set your oven to 400. Cut your squash in half.  Scrape those little seeds out, shake a little salt and pepper on the squash and put the two halves on a greased piece of foil on a cookie sheet.  Cook for about 40 min.   Let the squash cool for 15 min or until its not to hot to handle.  Take a fork and scrape out the inside.  It will shred into a whole bunch of spaghetti looking squash.

I usually scrape the squash right into a skillet of shrimp that has been cooked with a little olive oil and sea salt.  Cook it all together for a few minutes.  You can keep it clean with just the olive oil or add a little butter if you want (go ahead, it won't hurt you) and sprinkle with a good pecorino romano cheese additional salt and pepper. Serve it with a side salad and you are good to go.

You are going to be surprised at how good this is.  And, it heats up great the next day!

So next time you are at the grocery store, buy a big old spaghetti squash, cut it in half and throw it in the oven.  It cooks all by itself and when it's done, you can go from squash to plates in about 15 min.

Let me know what you think!

Happy and Healthy Wednesday.

Paula