Yup, the girl who can’t and doesn’t (generally) cook, is going to teach y’all how to cook a spaghetti squash. I have decided to try give cooking a try, at least every once in a while, as I’m all about improving myself and trying new things. Also, I think after four years of marriage I should start pulling my weight in the cooking department.
Now, the best thing about spaghetti squash (other than it tasting super scrumptious) is it’s zero points, if you’re happening to be following the Weight Watcher life style (and I am, oh how I am…incidentally I lost 1.2lbs at WW last week and that was with Thanksgiving! Yay me!) and - have I mentioned that it’s delicious? Decadently delicious?
Anyhoodle, I goofed up and forgot to take pictures of the squash before I had actually cut it, gut it and stuck it in the oven but I’ll do my best to describe the necessary steps and you can follow along with visuals in your head. Head out to your local grocery store/super centre Walmart/local farmer’s garden/wherever and pick yourself up a spaghetti squash. I tend to buy smaller ones being that it’s just the boy and I (the boy child and his best friend tend to avoid all vegetables with the dedication of a marine) but you could buy a larger one and use the leftover squash for, well, leftovers.
Take the biggest knife you own (no seriously, the biggest and baddest one currently residing in your kitchen will be the only suitable one for the job) and cut the squash right down the middle, lengthwise. Trust me, this is harder than it sounds. Spaghetti squash is one of the hardest substances known to man, like diamonds - or Cuda the dog’s head. (Seriously, that dog has the hardest head in the world. One time Cuda was relaxing in the living room and something scared the living daylights out of him - I believe it was the neighbours whispering next door (he’s extremely skittish) that set him off - and he leaped up and turned to run, where I don’t know, but that’s not really the point of the story. The point was that he turned and ran head first into our computer desk (he has the memory of the common housefly when it comes to furniture placement). I was in the kitchen and heard a terrific crack, I assumed it was the sound of Cuda’s head splitting open but he was completely fine. Gave his head a slight shake, fixed the desk with the evil eye and resumed his position in front of the couch. The desk wasn’t broken so we assume the crack came from his skull. We watched him for a few days for signs of head trauma and brain damage but the dog is so naturally stupid that it was difficult to judge whether he was his normal self or was suffering serious skull trauma.
Picture of dog with hardest canine skull in the known universe:
Where was I? Right… the cutting of the spaghetti squash. This really is the trickiest part, at least for me who’s been known to seriously injure herself when attempting to cook. One time about seven years ago I was cooking spaghetti and as I innocently chopped the green pepper, the knife flew out of my hand and embedded it’s pointy self into the top of my foot. True story. I lived on my own at the time and I remember looking down and seeing the knife sticking out of my foot. And I says to myself
Kelly: “Self, this is not good.”
Mollie the cat (wandering into the kitchen to investigate): Dumb ass human.
Kelly: Do I pull it out or leave it in?
Mollie: Whatever.
I did eventually pull it out and survived to cook another day but as my friend Chris said “Who knew that green peppers could be so lethal?” I certainly didn’t know they had it in them.
Once you finally succeed in cutting the spaghetti squash in half (mine required a loud amount of grunting, cursing and finally slamming the knife and squash on the counter and breaking it open), scoop out the seeds and guts and dispose of them appropriately (do not give them to the bulldog currently begging at your feet). Stab both halves of the squash a few times with a fork and place them on a microwave safe plate. Microwave the squash for 8 to 10 minutes while you preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Place both halves of the squash on a cookie sheet and plop a teaspoon of margarine in each half (directly into the little indent in the middle of the squash). Sprinkle liberally with seasoning salt. Stick it in the oven and cook it for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the squash.
Now this next part is optional…when you’re placing the cookie sheet in the oven, let the knuckle of your index finger rest against the oven rack long enough to make the skin crispy. (See photo detail below)
Despite this debilitating wound, I bravely carried on with the supper plan while Ben dozed on the couch like a little old man who spent too much time in the sun. I’m just sayin’…
While the squash is cooking, you’re going to go through your fridge and pull out any vegetables that you think would be tasty and interesting to eat and cook (um…sautee maybe? Is that what you fancy chefs call it?) them in a non-stick pan coated liberally with Pam. I went with fresh mushrooms, sliced green peppers, chopped green onions and thinly sliced zucchini (Damn, I sound professional don’t I?). You could also add a touch of fresh garlic if you like, but thanks to an unfortunate childhood garlic incident, I tend to not use it. Cook (sautee?) those vegetables up and add your favourite commercial pasta sauce (I used Original Ragu but Prego would work just as well). Let it heat and bubble merrily at low temperatures for 5 to 10 minutes like so:
Now for the fun part - once the 30 minutes are up, pull the squash out of the oven. Using an oven mitt, cradle one half of the squash in your hand (be careful - they’re hot!) and viciously attack it with a fork. Spaghetti squash is called spaghetti because the meat of the squash, when combed (or viciously attacked) with a fork turns into what looks remarkably like spaghetti. Behold - pictures of one “combed” half of squash and one “pre-combed” half of squash:
Pre-combed:
“Combed”
(Seriously, how fricken’ cool is that?)
Once you’ve removed all of the “meat” of the squash it should look like this:
Then, ladle that veggie and sauce combo we cooked earlier over the spaghetti squash, like so:
And, as a lovely side dish you can boost up your veggie intake even more by making a simple, yet delicious!, tomato and cucumber salad.
As I said, this is a very simple recipe. Take one english cucumber, two medium field tomatoes and chop them into large chunks (or small, if you don’t, you know, like large chunks of cucumber and tomatoes). Place them in a large bowl with a lid and add:
1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil)
2 tablespoons of white vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste
Securely fasten the lid on to the bowl and then shake what your mama gave ya! (Also, although you may be tempted to do this, do not sing “Livin’ la Vida Loca” at the top of your lungs while holding the securely lidded bowl and shaking what your mama gave you around the kitchen. It will cause the guy currently snoozing on your couch like an old man who sat in the sun too long to wake up, clutch his chest and holler “Elizabeth - I’m coming home!” like a big ole’ Drama Queen.)
Now the recipe does say you should let the salad marinate an hour to two hours in the fridge before serving this salad, but seriously y’all - do I look like someone who has an hour or two to let my dinner marinate? I tend to make this salad before I start working on the squash so it has half an hour to 40 minutes to marinate max. It still tastes good.
The salad:
And that, my friends, is how you cook a spaghetti squash. Delicious, nutritious and super low in points. That entire meal was, on average, less than 10 points (points need to be handed out for the oil, the sugar and the the pasta sauce) (and considering that I had a very large and high point lunch, I needed a low point supper!) and as a bonus - by using a little imagination and perusing your fridge, you can get all of your veggies for the day in, in one fell swoop!
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