Yum Yum Num Num Time: Spaghetti Squash

I feel like I've been doing an injustice to my diet lately by indulging in too many birthday efforts and not so much "healthy eating."

SPEAKING OF HEALTHY EATING, I totally read this article today and it proves me right.


And also speaking of spaghetti (if you consider this spaghetti), here is the latest headline in today's food world:

NESTLE RECALLS LEAN CUISINE SPAGHETTI WITH MEATBALLS MEALS, MIGHT CONTAIN PLASTIC.  


First off, might contain plastic?  Let's be completely honest here, Lean Cuisine with plastic comes standard.  You know what food science did for this lovely world?  It turned everything awful and pre-packaged you eat into edible plastic.  No joke.  If you eat this garbage, instantly stop and make yourself something much healthier and much more satisfying (both creatively and abdominally).  I mean, you do realize you are eating spaghetti and meatballs, right?  Not exactly the healthiest food option out there.

But you know what is?

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH HOMEMADE PASTA SAUCE


You'll need the following: 


1 spaghetti squash


5 ripe, beefy tomatoes 
1/2 diced red onion
3 - 5 cloves diced garlic
1/2 cup vodka
1 - 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
Bay leaves


Optional:
Mushrooms
Tofu

While eating this, try and remember the awfulness that is Lean Cuisine.  But I digress...

Here's how we roll:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grab yourself a cookie sheet or any other sort of flat pan.  I prefer to completely ruin my cookie sheets by cooking my spaghetti squash on them.  Totally worth it.  And I believe it makes your cookies healthier.  Anyway...Cut your spaghetti squash hot dog style.  Clean out all the nasty guts and stuff--you know, like the seeds.  Put the squash face down on the pan and stab stab stab it with a fork until you've tuckered your tender jiggly arms out.

Toss it in the oven for...say...45 minutes.

While that's cooking you can start your pasta sauce.  This is my recommendation for a pasta sauce because I love spicy food.  You can easily tweak this recipe, though.  Really, to make a good pasta sauce you just need tomatoes, garlic, seasonings and, well, that's pretty much it.  But, I recommend following my recipe because that's why I have a blog and you don't. (AND, I have 12 followers.  That says something!)

So dice up your onion and garlic together.  Start up your sauce pan on medium heat and put in a little olive oil.  You can throw the onion and garlic in and let them start to cook up.  You may need to add a little more olive oil as you go, just note.  If you're using mushrooms, this would be the time to also dice them up and throw them in.

Stir until the onions start to brown a little bit and, if using them, the mushrooms are nice and soft.

Take a swig and pour in your vodka.

Stir around for a minute and let the onions, garlic and, maybe, mushrooms simmer.  Add your spices.

Stir a bit more and star chopping up your tomatoes and adding them one at a time.  When the tomatoes are all added, put the heat down to low, put a top on your pan and let the sauce simmer.  It won't really look like a sauce at first, but I promise you, it'll get there.

God, not enough pictures so far.

Hahahaha...look at that goofball.  I'm a Bird Nerd.

Now, if you were considering adding tofu (which I think it is a great consideration) then this is what you would do:

I know some people are very intimidated by tofu, but it is awesomely versatile and good for you as well. It's a nice way to get protein without having to eat some crap that clogs up your arteries.  First, you want to use a block of Extra Firm Tofu, open up the package, and drain the water.  You want to wrap it in a towel of some sort and put something heavy on it for about 10 minutes or so.  I usually put one of my cast iron skillets on it and leave it alone while I chop up the onions.  Also, I'm pretty lazy about this, so sometimes I don't even press it at all.  Whatever.

Chop up your tofu in little squares and add it about 1 or 2 minutes after you add the onions and garlic, but before the vodka.  You'll cook this for a little bit longer so the tofu become firm and begins to also brown around the outside.  Then add the vodka and continue normally from there.

If this doesn't tickle your fancy, just add some sausage and put a few bucks in the Health Savings account.

Here's what it'll look like:

My boyfriend just made the "nom nom" sound to this picture.  Yeahhhhh...it's that good.

All right, by the time your food looks as good as mine, your spaghetti squash should be done.  Take it out of the oven and flip it over.  It's going to be hot as fucking hell, so don't touch it at all.  I've burnt my impatient self so many times trying to get the guts out.  Just wait.

After about 10 minutes of cooling, take a fork to the inside and let 'er rip.  My boyfriend says "Use long downward strokes." Yeah, sounds about right.

Really, though, you're just trying to get all the guts out.  It'll be nice and stringy like spaghetti.  And as you get the squash out you can transfer the strings to a bowl until you've pretty much cleaned that sucker out like an 18 year old with a trust fund.

When you're done getting it all out, toss it in the sauce and, if the mood so strikes you, you can grate some parmesan cheese or fresh mozzarella on your squash.

And then, you'll get this:

Which would rule.

Ok, let's be straight with each other for a minute.  I think it's really really really important to try to eat well, but I also know that there are a lot of food distractions in the world; i.e. PB&J Log.  I get that.  But if you're trying to eat healthy, this is an awesome option.  I have yet to meet a person who doesn't like this.  It's an awesome substitute for spaghetti and it's much much better for you.  Plus, if you can't get yourself to enjoy a good squash, this is the food for you.  It's really just like a delicious al dente pasta.

Squash good.  Plastic bad.