Gluten Free | The Food Mosaic

I was first introduced to Spaghetti Squash by my roommate while I was in college. It was a cheap, nutritious meal for two, and who doesn’t love that when you are young, poor and hungry. At first I didn’t really enjoy it and I smothered it with cheese in order to forget that it wasn’t really pasta. After I graduated and decided to lead a veggie-friendly lifestyle I noticed my tastes changed. They say that the more vegetables you eat in your diet the more you crave. Well, that is certainly true for me.

While squash in itself is a north american commodity, this version of squash was actually created in China. Not exactly sure why or how, but that’s where it came from. It some how made it to North America where it has been loved ever since.

Spaghetti squash is really a super cool gourd. It’s a winter squash, so naturally it’s always best to eat it when it is in season. You can bake it (which is what I did today), boil it, steam it and microwave it. Like most squash it has seeds and bits on the inside that you have to scoop out. Those seeds can be roasted like you would roast pumpkin seeds. It really is a versatile squash and it is perfect for someone who is gluten free, paleo or just trying to watch their carb intake! Spaghetti squash comes in many different sizes and colors. I tend to get orange or yellow squashes because they have higher amounts of beta-carotene. You can usually find these squashes at your local super market, but if you want the freshest go to your nearest farmers market.

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash
1 cup of pasta sauce of your choice

For starters, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the innards and seeds. Keep the seeds and separate them from the flesh if you want to bake them. I have a really easy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds that you can use for the squash seeds!

When you are finished place the squash, cut side down in deep baking dish. You want to fill the dish with 1 or 2 cm of water. You are going to bake the squash with a steam bath, which allows the whole squash to be cooked evenly.

Place the squash in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes. You can test to see if the squash is cooked through by poking it with a fork. If the flesh of the squash starts to shred easily with a fork it’s done!

I also let the squash rest face down for 10 minutes and continue to let it steam cook. When it has cooled down a little, flip the squash over and start shredding the flesh with a fork.

It should start shredding pretty easily. If it isn’t then it might need to cook for another 10 minutes or so.

From here you can shred all of the flesh and then saute it in a pan with just butter and herbs and eat it that way, or you can eat it any way you would normally use pasta. In my case I love eating chunky, spice tomato sauce so that is what I made for dinner. I layered some cheddar cheese on top of the squash and then piled some spicy homemade pasta sauce with veggie sausage.