Pie For Dinner?

As misleading as that title might be, I did make a Spaghetti Squash Pie for dinner the other night that got rave reviews.  It's more like a shepherds pie but with spaghetti squash instead of mashed potatoes.  I found a recipe a while back on Things My Belly Likes for a Spaghetti Pie that looked pretty good so I gave it a try.  It was good but there was not much to it.  I decided to remake it and amp up the veggies (including the amount of squash), I took out the mushrooms because I don't like them and added more fresh herbs.  See what you think of my Spaghetti Squash Pie (I already have requests to make it again soon!).

First things first, get your oven pre-heated to 400 degrees.  Cut your spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  Lightly brush with oil and a dash of salt and pepper.  Place the squash cut side down and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes or until fork tender on the back side.

While that's in the oven, chop an onion

and mince a few cloves of garlic.

Chop about 2 cups of cauliflower.

Shred one carrot.

Dice up a couple of tomatoes.

Round up some fresh herbs.  I like basil and parsley but if you're going to use just one, go with basil.

Once you're all prepped, it's time to get cooking.

Start by heating a little olive oil in a large skillet and cook the onions and garlic until they start to soften.

Next toss in the cauliflower and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to soften. If you have a lid for your skillet, pop it on there to speed up the process a little by letting it steam for a couple of minutes.

Now add your ground beef.  I've got this great antibiotic free beef from our meat CSA that is remarkably better tasting than what we buy at the grocery store.

Once the meat starts to brown, add the tomatoes and herbs and cook until the tomatoes start to break down.  Season with salt and pepper.  When the squash is done, scrape the inside with a fork and remove the strands to a bowl (or not, which ever works for you).

While that's under way, rinse the spinach and tear the leaves if you're not using baby spinach.

Once the meat is fully cooked and tomatoes are broken down, remove from heat and stir in the spinach until wilted.

Pour your meat and veggies into a 9x9 casserole,

Top with the spaghetti squash,

and a thin layer or cheddar cheese.  Lower the oven to 375 and bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned.  If you're in a hurry, you can just pop it under the broiler to melt the cheese since everything is already cooked.

Every time I see this picture I'm thinking scrambled eggs...but it's not.  Doesn't that look good though?

And there you go, a nice veggie packed flavorful dinner with a nice side salad and you are good to go!

Spaghetti Squash Pie

1 medium spaghetti squash

2 Tbs olive oil

16 oz ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cups cauliflower cut into small florets

1 carrot shredded

3 cloves garlic minced

2 med tomatoes chopped

a handful of fresh basil chopped

a handful of fresh parsley chopped

3 handfuls fresh spinach roughly chopped

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

salt & pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400°. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Brush cut side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake cut side down on a baking sheet for 25-30 min or until fork tender. When done, scrape the inside of the squash with a fork and scoop out the squash. Set aside.

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook stirring until softened, about 3 minuets. Stir in the cauliflower and carrots and cook about 5 minutes more, until cauliflower begins to soften. Add ground beef (or turkey) breaking it up with a spoon and cook until beef has browned. Add chopped tomatoes and herbs and cook until tomatoes have begun to break down and meat is cooked all the way through. Remove from heat and stir in spinach leaves until wilted.

Pour mixture into a casserole dish (9x9 works) and top with a layer of spaghetti squash. Top with a layer of cheddar cheese and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until cheese starts to brown. Serve hot with a nice side salad.

All Fooling Aside

Sometimes things try to be something they're not.  Turkey bacon for example, is not bacon.  It's no where near bacon and if you ask me, it would be better to never have bacon ever again than to eat something pretending to be bacon.  I felt the same way when my sister who was a vegetarian for a time tried to convince me that her fake vegetarian bacon was just as good as the real deal.  Not so.  Sometimes fake outs are a little less offensive.  Which brings me to today's featured veggie, spaghetti squash.  I read a ton of recipe's from various sources including fitness journals and health/exercise related magazines.  It's not unusual to find recipes that are healthy versions of typically unhealthy favorites.  Sometimes they work but many times they just don't quite do the trick.  One that seems to pop up all the time is spaghetti squash, either with tomato sauce (vegetarian option) or with meat sauce.  For some reason I just wasn't feeling it.  The thought of squash (likely imagining the taste of butternut squash) with spaghetti sauce was so unappealing to me.  More recently I've decided to give it a good try.  We like pasta (a lot!) and we like our rice too (we try to do more brown but we do love our basmati and jasmine rice too).  I figured it really couldn't hurt to find a side or a replacement to those white starches.  I made a spaghetti pie recipe (with spaghetti squash) a few weeks back that was pretty good.  I'm going to make some changes to it next time and then I'll pass it along.  The other night I made a nice little side dish to accompany strip steaks and steamed broccoli.  I started with a recipe for Warm Spaghetti-Squash Salad from Food & Wine's website.  I changed things up to our liking (we're not big olive fans here), took out the olives, added oregano and adjusted the amounts so we didn't have a ton of food. Click the link above for the original or enjoy my version at the end of this post.

There are a number of ways to cook the spaghetti squash but my preference is to just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and drizzle with a little olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper.  Place cut side down on a baking sheet and place in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 45 min.  This squash was just shy of 3lbs and this was the perfect amount of time.  The recipe in the above link tells how to boil it.

While the squash is cooking toast 1/4- 1/2 cup of slivered almonds.  You can do this on the stove in a pan over medium heat or pop them in the toaster oven and bake at 300 for a few minutes.  Keep your eye on them so they don't burn! This is a half cup but we really didn't need quite that many.

Next make the dressing.  I used three scallions.  White and green parts.

That was bout a 1/4 cup.  Put them in your mini food processor if you have one, or whatever other chopping apparatus you may use.

Next add 1/2 tsp of lemon zest to the chopper.

Juice half a lemon, and add 2 Tbs of lemon juice to the scallions and zest.

This is where I improvised a little, adding some fresh oregano.  Anyone who read this blog knows what I fan I am of this stuff.  I'm always trying to convince you to get the fresh herbs, you can't beat them.

I used 1 Tbs of oregano.  It smells so good....

Next I added a clove of garlic and 3 Tbs of olive oil, a dash of salt and pepper and pulsed it until it was a nice smooth dressing.  The olive oil (and garlic) was another change on my part.  The recipe calls for Canola oil which is something to steer clear of (click the link to learn more) and lots of it (1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs).  Three tablespoons of olive oil worked well. You could add another Tbs if your squash is a little bigger.

Once your squash has cooled enough to handle, you just scrape at it with a fork and what do you know, it looks just like spaghetti.  Amazing.  Put your squash in a bowl for the finishing touches.

Pour your dressing over the top of the squash and toss.

Add a quarter cup of crumbled feta and your toasted almonds.

Serve warm.  This was a hit with the whole family (I'm noticing the kids are getting to like feta, which wasn't always the case).  I think I'm ready for some spaghetti squash with bolognese.

Warm Spaghetti Squash Salad (adapted from Food & Wine)

1 spaghetti squash 2 1/2 to 3 lbs
1/2 Cup slivered almonds, toasted
3 scallions sliced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbs lemon juice
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs fresh oregano 
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup crumbled feta
salt and pepper to taste

Cut squash in half, remove seeds and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place cut side down on a baking sheet.  Bake for 45 min (or until fork tender) in a pre-heated 375 degree oven.  Set aside to cool when done.

In a mini chopper or food processor, pulse the scallions, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper to taste to a smooth dressing.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, scrape into strands with a fork and place in a bowl.  Toss with dressing, feta and toasted almonds.  Serve warm.

This was a great weeknight dinner.  You can't go wrong with delicious and healthy sides to go with some fantastic grilled strip steaks.