Spaghetti Squash How-To

I love winter squashes. They, along with sweet potatoes and grapefruits, are one of the main reasons I look forward to winter produce. I've made spaghetti squash before, but I cooked it in a different manner. In fact, the last time I tried baking it, my old glass pan completely overheated and shattered in my oven. I decided the glass-garnished squash would do better in the trash and I hadn't bothered ever cooking another one.

 Yep. It looks about like that.

Until now.

I found an old recipe in Vegetarian Times for Spaghetti Squash with Orange Gremolata. It was a microwave recipe and more of a side dish. I wound up baking the squash in the oven (because that's just what feels right... also, my microwave takes four minutes to heat up a bowl of room temperature soup. Cooking a squash in there was just crazy talk!).

I tried using the gremolata as a marinade for some tofu to make this recipe more of a main dish, and I think it would work if tinkered with it. There just wasn't enough umph in there to make the tofu really stand out. However, I've been wanting some orange marmalade-marinated tofu for like six months now, so I'm sure I'll get to play with that idea again.

Here's some nutritional info on spaghetti squashes for those that are curious:
1 cup (cooked - baked or boiled) has 42 calories, 0 grams fat, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

It is a good source of Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium and Manganese. I'm not sure why I always capitalize my chemical elements and such...

How to pick out a squash:
1. It should be heavy for it's size.
2. It should be nice and orange. If it's green it's still unripe.
3. The bigger the squash the sweeter it will taste. I like to get a small one and use it in savory recipes.
4. You can store it uncut at room temperature for about a month.

Now preparing the squash is easy.
1. I wash the squash. You never know what's touched that thing
2. Cut the ends of the squash and then cut it in half lengthwise.
3. Use a large spoon to get out the stringy pulp and seeds. The seeds are edible.
4. Spray the cut sides with nonstick spray or rub with a little olive oil and bake cut-side-down at 400F for about an hour to an hour and a half. The baking time will depend on how large your squash is.
5. Once the squash is done, allow it to cool until your able to touch it, then use a fork to separate the halves into strands.

This is how I enjoyed my squash:

The squash is sea salted and tossed with a couple of tablespoons of roasted, chopped pistachios and served alongside some buttery steamed broccoli and some orange-y balsamic baked tofu (which I promise is not burnt! It's just the balsamic, lol). It was a very healthy and tasty meal!

I even ate the squash as a snack between meals. Can't beat 42 cals a serving! I think the next time I make this squash I'm actually going to serve it with a chunky tomato sauce like spaghetti. That would really be awesome. In fact, as I was eating this I found myself wishing it was covered with a sauce, lol. I just didn't have any!

The next squash I'm going to be cooking up is an acorn squash and that recipe will be Morroccan-Stuffed Acorn Squash. Tasty, tasty!