Spaghetti Squash made easy by author @DarylWoodGerber

Spaghetti Squash with herbs and Parmesan cheese

From Daryl aka Avery: I still have herbs growing in my garden. I'm lucky. I live in Southern California. They won't last the whole season. They're on their last legs and I'll have to replant, but I have a few, so I avail myself of them. For those of you living under a blanket of snow - the rest of the country - I'm sorry and I wish you lots of warmth - you might have a kitchen garden or you have a grocery store that offers fresh herbs or you can use dried herbs for this recipe. This is an easy, forgiving recipe and one of my go-to recipes for a vegetarian meal. (Lucy, it's light on salt!)

What exactly is spaghetti squash? It's a cultivar. 

A what? 

FROM WIKIPEDIA -  Popular ornamental garden plants like roses, camellias, and daffodils are cultivars produced by careful breeding. Similarly, the world's agricultural food crops are almost exclusively cultivars that have been selected for characteristics such as improved yield, flavor, and resistance to disease.  

What I like to call it is a gourd. It's about 8-12 inches long, yellowy-orange in color. 

To cook it, you need to cut it in half. This is not an easy task, so be careful. Set the gourd on a cutting board and use a big firm knife. You need to hold the gourd steady as you cut. I have often used a kitchen gripper to give me some leverage. It cuts like a pumpkin!

After it is cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti. What I did not know until I read the Wiki page is that you can cook the seeds like pumpkin seeds. I have never done that, but will try the next time I make this, which is about once a month.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash

(serves 4, as side dish)

1 large cooked spaghetti squash, cut in half, seeds removed

2-4 tablespoons olive oil or butter

2-4 tablespoons fresh herbs (if dried herbs, use 1-2 tbsp. bouquet garni or basil)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, more if desired

Heat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Cut the spaghetti squash carefully on a cutting board lengthwise.

Add one inch of water to a 13 x 9 baking pan. Set the spaghettti squash seed-side down in the water. Set in the oven and bake slowly for 35-40 minutes.

Remove the squash from the oven. It will be steaming hot. Let sit for ten minutes.

With potholders on your hands, scoop the seeds out of the squash and discard (or set aside and bake, as you would pumpkin seeds.)

Then scoop the flesh of the spaghetti squash into a large bowl.

Add the olive oil or butter, herbs, salt, and Parmesan cheese. Toss as you would spaghetti.

Serve and top with more Parmesan cheese, if desired.

This makes a great vegetarian entrée or a terrific side dish.

Savor the mystery!

Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames

Tasty ~ Zesty ~ Dangerous!

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