Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Spaghetti Squash Review

I didn't make bento today, so I decided to do a review instead. I bought Spaghetti Squash last week because I have never tried it and I have heard many good things about it. So tonight I decided to make it.
First, is the hard part, Cutting the squash open. It took a lot of muscle to cut this thing in half. After that it is pretty simple to scoop the seeds and pulp out of the center. Just like scooping the seeds out when carving a pumpkin.
I ended up with this.
 I took the two halves and I placed them into a large microwave safe bowl with about 1/4 cup of water. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and cooked it for about 15mins. While this squash was cooking I cut the second squash in half and scooped out the seeds.
Next came the fun part. When the squash was done cooking I took it out of the microwave and popped in the other two halves for 15mins. I took a fork and started scraping the insides out of the cooked squash. It's so cool how the squash shreds into spaghetti like noodles. I was surprised at how much squash I ended up with. Here is a picture of after I scooped both squashes.
It was a lot, but I was pleased with the amount since I have some big eaters in the house. I was glad I didn't cook the third squash I bought though, That would have been too much. I'll save that for another day and make a yummy side dish or something with it.
Alright, now came the cooking. Here is a list of all the ingredients I used.
  • 2 Spaghetti Squash (Cooked and shredded)
  • 1/4 Red Onion, Chopped
  • 1 sm Yellow Pepper, Chopped
  • 1 package Thin n' Trim Chicken Sausage (spinach and red onion), Chopped
  • 2 cups Fresh Spinach
  • Minced Garlic
  • Italian Seasonings
  • Black Pepper
  • Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
  • Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Pam (nonstick spray)
Spray your pan liberally with non stick cooking spray, Saute the onions, peppers, and sausage until cooked through. Add the garlic, Italian seasonings, black pepper, and crushed pepper flakes. Add the squash and stir well to combine. Stir in the spinach and let cook until the spinach leaves are wilted. Serve with a spoon full of Parmesan cheese.
Here is the finished product.

Very tasty, Add as little or as much seasonings as you like. I added more because I thought it was a little bland as I was cooking it. The squash has a bit of a crunch to it still so it's not as pasta textured as I was expecting. But that was a good thing. I liked that the squash flavor still came through in the meal, but I feel that if I added a sauce, the squash flavor would disappear. I'll have to try it that way to see.

I love the Nutrition information for the squash though.
1 cup of the cooked Spaghetti Squash is about:
42 Calories
1% Fat
1% Sodium
3% Total Carbohydrate
9% Dietary Fiber
4g Sugars
1g Protein
3% Vitamin A
3% Calcium
9% Vitamin C
3% Iron

My Bowl consisted of:
186 Calories
19g Carbs
8g Fat
17g Protein
Not bad at all for such a filling meal. I only had one bowl full and I still feel full 1 hr later.

3 comments:

  1. I love spaghetti squash but didn't really know what to put on it other than sauce (and I can no longer eat tomatoes.) When I made it for my family with tomato sauce, I just put cottage cheese on mine (which actually wasn't too bad.) However, your recipe sounds like a great way to eat it. I will definitely have to give it a try. By the way, if you'd prefer not to use plastic wrap, you can put water in the hole of the bottom half of the squash and then put the top half back on, put it in a dish that keeps it from falling apart (but no lid) I also cooked mine for much longer than recommended(20 minutes) and the texture was much softer (not crunchy.)

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  2. Have you tried baking the seeds?
    It's just like baking pumpkin seeds and totally amazing! :D

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