Spaghetti Squash is Sexy!
I have an unhealthy addiction to large heaping bowls of pasta. Put a bowl of delicious pasta adorned with fresh marinara in front of me and my willpower jumps directly out the nearest window. Growing up 100% Italian, it’s been this way since I was 3… I don’t fight it anymore, I just embrace it and try to not become the size of a baby elephant. In my quest for a “healthy spaghetti” (as if there is such a thing) I discovered something on Pinterest recently and my mind has been OH. EM. GEE. B-L-O-W-N!
Let me introduce you to Spaghetti Squash!
Boasting 42 calories per cup and a mere 10 grams of carbs, I knew I had to try this shenanigans out! Enjoy my little tutorial below and let me know your thoughts once you make it for yourself!
Step One- Halve the Squash
The trick right out of the gate is simple, try not to cut your finger off with a meat cleaver. I’d like to offer you a tip to chopping this bad boy in half, but I don’t know that there is one. Put it on a steady surface, close your eyes and pray you don’t miss. We’re not going for looks or presentation here folks, just trying to break it in half! (I have played sports my entire life and my hand-eye coordination is pretty stellar. If yours isn’t, I hear you can also cook the squash whole. Just know you will feel a little less like a Champion without the whole meat cleaver bit.)
Step Two- The Cookery
Pre-heat your oven to 375˚ and pop these bad boys in for about 30 minutes. While they are cooking you can be super productive and unload the dishwasher, dust or do a load of laundry… Or you can grab the latest Sports Illustrated that showed up in the mail today and cozy up on the couch like I did. (Can we talk about the cover with Creighton’s Doug McDermott that replicated Larry Bird’s from back in the day… OH MAN! Sooooo awesome! I digress.)
Step 3- Purge the Seeds
Basically what you do in this step is try not to burn yourself. Remember in the movie “Men in Black” when they burn their fingerprints off? They should have used a spaghetti squash. These suckah’s are HOT! I let it cool after it came out of the oven, obviously not long enough. One seed flew up and landed right down my shirt (which felt a lot like when a hot bullet casing popped it’s way into my bra… True story.) Another seed flew out and landed directly on the top of my bare foot (which also hurt like a son-of-a-gun.) At this point you will want to throw the damn thing directly in the trash but you won’t because you then remember you don’t want to be the size of a baby elephant. For the good of Humanity, Dollface, You must press on!
Step 4- Spaghetti Squash Lives Up to its Name
This is the step where it all starts to become worth it. I basically had no idea what I was doing. Using the same fork I had just used to clear out the seeds, I began to shred the squash. It was totally fun and wildly soothing. Lo and behold this crazy little veggie (which is actually a fruit) started to look like… Wait for it… Spaghetti!
Step 5- Throw Down on Some Deliciousness
This really needs no explanation but if I must… Add your favorite sauce and Nom Nom Nom!!! (I really just wanted an excuse to add Nom Nom Nom into a blog post… TWICE.)
Side Note: I recently took some spaghetti squash and added it to my breakfast of scrambled egg whites… Totally faked out my tastebuds (and Hubbz) into thinking they were hash browns!
Healthy Eats! Mission Accomplished!
