Spaghetti . . . Without the Pasta

For those of you who have already read our zucchini post, you know that we love coming up with alternative ways to create pasta-style dishes without the heavy carb load. Granted, zucchini strands are a far cry from chewy wheat pasta, but hey, this is one really delicious dish!

In the same spirit (and for those of you intimidated by the large, hard gourds found in the supermarket), we wanted to share our process for making spaghetti squash. Trust us, it’s super easy and fun to boot.

First, some facts. Spaghetti squash is a good source of vitamin C, B vitamins and potassium (great for lowering blood pressure). It also has one QUARTER of the carb content of regular pasta. That means it will have little impact on blood sugar swings, especially combined with some nice protein and a dose of healthy fat. If you know anything about the Nourishing Gurus, you know we are all about balancing blood sugars for managing weight and reducing sugar cravings 🙂

To get started, simply choose a medium size squash from the supermarket or health food store. It will look something like this:

To cook squash, preheat oven to 350F. Take a LARGE sharp knife and cut it right down the middle (I sometimes chop off the stem, but you don’t have to). This is what it will look like on the inside. Scoop out the seeds and fibrous strings from the center with a spoon and discard.

Turn it face down on a baking sheet, and pierce with a fork a few times. Then bake for about an hour, until fork goes easily through skin and you can feel flesh is soft.

Once cooked, it will look something like this:

Now you just pull out the strands with a fork and scoop into a bowl. You will be able to remove everything right down to the skin. You can now use the spaghetti strands for whatever recipe strikes your fancy!

Following  is one of our favorite recipes, but the possibilities are endless. Use it in place of any pasta dish you already make. Its also yummy mixed with a little organic butter (or ghee) and sprinkled with salt and pepper, tossed with pesto, or drizzled with olive, sea salt, basil, and a little fresh organic Parmesan cheese.

“Spaghetti” and Meat Sauce Recipe HERE.

Are you ready for The Great Veggie Challenge? It will be running from April 17th – 21st but you can sign up now. Get tips, recipes, and have tons of fun learning how to incorporate more veggies into your day and boost your energy, weight loss, digestion, immune system and much much more. Details and sign up HERE.