Hello, Spaghetti Squash! Goodbye, Pasta!

By Littleraincloud @littleraincloud

Spaghetti squash, in one word…Amazing!  I bet you’ve seen it in your produce section while grocery shopping & wondered…how do you even cook that stuff.  I know I did at first!  Thank goodness for the internet & a quick google search!  I first started cooking spaghetti squash several years ago, but for some reason I haven’t picked any up for a year or so.  Anyways, I was at the grocery store this past weekend & noticed that they had some nice small sized spaghetti squash, which was perfect, since I was only cooking it for myself.  They come in all sizes, so you can pick one up that will suffice for however many people you’re cooking for.

There are several different ways you can cook up your spaghetti sauce, so just go with whatever way is best for you.  I’ve baked it in the oven and used the microwave both and it comes out the same either way you cook it.  So, if you’re going to go the microwave route, like I do, you’ll want to poke it several times with a sharp nice all over!  This is a very important step, otherwise, your squash may explode & nobody wants to clean up the microwave after that mess!

Once you have poked your spaghetti squash all over, so it can vent while cooking, you’ll want to place it on top of two paper towels in your microwave & cook it for 10-12 minutes.  While that’s cooking, you can prepare whatever else you want to have with it.  I had picked up some chicken meatballs & had them baking in the over for 25 minutes, while I was doing everything else.  Next, I put some spaghetti sauce on the stove to heat up.  Then I thought some mushrooms cooked in a little garlic would be a good addition, so I got that started up on the stove.

Once the microwave goes off, you’ll want to get your squash out of the microwave.  Be careful, it’ll be steaming hot!  You can let it set for 5 minutes or so, if you like.  When you’re ready, you’ll want to use a sharp knife and cut it in half length wise.

Next, you’ll want to take a big spoon and scoop out all of the seeds in the middle.  It should only take you a couple of scoops & it comes out super easy.

Once you’re done scooping out the seeds….it’s time for the fun part!  Get yourself a fork and just start scraping from the sides, towards the center and you’ll quickly see why they call it spaghetti squash!  Just scrape until you’ve got it all out of the shell and put it in a bowl!

See!  It looks just like spaghetti, only this is super healthy & very filling!  Just an FYI for those Weight Watchers people out there…this stuff is ZERO points, so eat up!  So once you’re all bowled up, add whatever toppings you’d like!  I chose chicken meatballs, mushrooms & spaghetti sauce & topped it all off with a little parmesan cheese!

Bon Appetit!