look at that colourful plate!
i heart vegetables. i especially heart spaghetti squash, it’s seriously one of my favourites! and it’s hard to get it all year round, but i try anyway. right now is the best time to buy it – totally in season, and they are HUGE. i like that there is usually a variety in size with spaghetti squash… i typically buy a smaller one just for myself and my roommate, although it is still very good as leftovers, so make extra if you want!
i also realized, when browsing through previous posts to make sure i wasn’t duplicating this one, that i eat a lot of tomatoes. i mean, A LOT! i cook them, which i’ve read is actually better than eating them raw because they are more bioavailable that way. in other words, your body uses the nutrients more effectively because they are cooked… i don’t fully understand it all, but this fact i found online was interesting :
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so – hooray for cooked tomatoes!
i started with basic stuff, to clean out the fridge and the countertop..
– 1 small to medium spaghetti squash {about 3-4 pounds}
– 1/2 cup carrots, diced
– 1 small sweet onion, peeled and chopped or diced
– 2 cups tomatoes of choice
begin by heating the oven to 400 degrees. carefully slice your spaghetti squash in half length-ways and place it flesh-side down on a baking sheet. we’ll let that cook for a while and make our sauce…
begin with your diced onion and saute it on medium heat with a couple spins of EVOO in the pan. watch for splatter, it’s bound to happen… be careful! we are going to caramelize the onions a bit…
so they are like this… be careful! add a little water to the pan if they begin to stick… keep the heat on low to medium, and use a guard if you have one
next, toss in your chopped carrots. add a little water or veggie stock to the pan and let the carrots simmer to absorb the liquid
once the carrots are cooked down a good bit, toss in your tomatoes. i chop some, and i keep some whole. i just leave the skins on…
let that simmer quite a bit to form a sauce. add a little water or stock as needed… i also tossed in a few sprigs of oregano from my garden.
throw in some fresh spinach or greens of any kind at the last minute and wilt them down…
add salt and pepper to taste, then check on your spaghetti squash. when you can stick a fork through the skin, it’s ready to come out of the oven
carefully flip it over and let cool. then, with a fork, scrape out your yummy “noodle” like squash
serve it on a bed of greens and then pour a generous amount of your sauce. top with oodles of fresh-grated parmesan and devour it all!
food & foto 
Gorgeous photos, really enjoying your blog! And this dish looks divine.
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thanks a ton! this is one of my favourite meals to make, i love it so much! looking forward to following your blog, as well. thank you for the kind comment!!
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Lovely looking dish. Very inventive indeed.
Best,
Conor
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I would rather be hanging out with Audrey and rather than Sandy
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This looks great!! 🙂
Kenley
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Oooooh, I love this! I’ve never cooked with spaghetti squash. I heart new veggies 😉
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no?!? you so need to try! they are in season right now and it’s a super easy pasta substitute with a healthy kick! i also plan to try to use it in a vegan noodle soup 🙂 thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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My pleasure! I tried and it was great. My three-year-old loved it too. thanks! 🙂
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woohoo, that’s awesome!!! 😀
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I LOVE spaghetti squash. This looks like a fabulous, super healthy meal! I love your step by step photos 🙂
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thank you so much, erika! what do you like to do with your spaghetti squash?! it’s definitely a favourite of mine as well!
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Once I bake it and scoop out the squash, I love eating it with just a sprinkle of parmesan. Sometimes I’ll add chopped tomatoes…and I’ve tried adding salsa, black beans and corn for a southwestern twist. My fav is plain parmesan though, which is weird considering I don’t even like plain pasta with parmesan! I’ll have to try this the next time I buy a squash though! 🙂
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yum, parmesan sounds perfect, i’ll have to try that. do you add butter or oil?! i feel like there are so many options i just don’t know about when it comes to spaghetti squash. so good for you!! thanks for stopping by!!
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Hmm I can’t reply to your last comment, but no–I don’t add butter or oil! I thought I would have to sautee it in a little fat and melt the cheese a little, but I find that the squash is so sweet and fresh (and full of water) so I either eat it raw (just baked, I mean) with cheese, or I’ll heat it with just parmesan for a few minutes over medium heat. So healthy and yum!!
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