Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Ahh Pinterest, you've inspired me again. I was so set on making this, that I went to three different stores to find spaghetti squash. Even at the third store the only ones I found were pretty tiny, so I used two small ones. I hope this doesn't mean that it's done for the season! Winter squash may be one of the only good things about the cold weather. I deviated from the original recipe by eliminating cheese and using what I had on hand, so the ingredients are pretty flexible. 

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Serves 2 as an entree, or 4 as a side

The cooked squash.

• 2 small spaghetti squash (or 1 large one, but only if you're making an entree for two people)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloved, minced
• Loose handful of fresh spinach
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup of cilantro.
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400º.
2. Roast the squash: Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Cook until easily pierced with a fork, 30 minutes for small squash and up to an hour for large squash.
3. In a skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil.
4. Throw in the spinach, and saute until the leaves begin to wilt. 
5. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cilantro and cook until everything is warm, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. When the spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle, scrape out about half the flesh with a fork to create "spaghetti". 
8. Add the scraped spaghetti to the skillet, and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
9. Spoon the contents of the skillet into the cavities in the squash.
10. Serve immediately. 

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

The mild weather we've been having this week really has me looking forward to summer. Traditional pesto is one of my favorite summer meals. I've been craving it, but fresh basil is hard to come by this time of year (summer please hurry!). A quick Internet search turned up a recipe for a pumpkin seed pesto. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I searched for a few more similar recipes and decided to combine them using what I already had.

The result was very interesting. At first all I could taste was the cilantro. Like swamp soup, this is a recipe for cilantro fans. After I few seconds I started to taste the pumpkin seeds. The nutritional yeast and garlic added a kick to the flavors to give this dish a unique taste. It's no basil pesto, but it'll do until I get those basil plants growing!

I planned on eating this with spaghetti squash, assuming I had one. It was actually a butternut squash that I had, so I served this over pasta instead. I ate this cold, but it was just as good warm when I ate the leftovers the next day.

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

Makes 4 servings

• 2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 bunch of cilantro, thick stems removed
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 garlic clove
• Dash of salt
• Roasted red peppers for garnish

1. Combine all ingredients (except the peppers) in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash, and garnish with roasted red peppers and extra pumpkin seeds.

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach "Cream" Sauce

I can't believe how beautiful it is today! It's hard to believe it's the first day of February when it feels more like April. I took Logan to the park so he can run wild while I update my blog. It's hard to focus when he's being this cute though!

My little tree hugger

I've been digging through raw food blogs for some recipe inspiration, and came across something called nut cheese. Basically it's a mixture of nuts and other ingredients to make a food with a cheesy texture. A lot of these recipes contain raw cashews, which I was having trouble finding- until yesterday. I went to the grocery store promising to only buy fresh produce since Andrew and I are still on our 2 week grocery strike of non produce items. The cashews were right there in the produce section. I couldn't help myself.

Last night was my first experience with nut cheese. I made spaghetti squash with a creamy spinach sauce. The cashews gave the sauce it's creamy texture. The original recipe, which I got from The Sunny Raw Kitchen, was a little bland for my taste. This could have been because I used frozen spinach instead of fresh. Next time I'll definitely use fresh, but I wanted to use up what I already had, and that was frozen. To make up for the blandness I added some onion and doubled the amount of spices. It came out pretty good, and tastes great with the spaghetti squash. I'd say my first nut cheese experience was a success!

To make this dish, start by roasting the squash. Cut in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Roast in the oven at 400º for about an hour, or until easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and flip the squash over. Scrape a fork along the inside to create "spaghetti". This is a very versatile squash. It can be eaten hot or cold, and you can top it with just about anything you would put on top of regular spaghetti, it's even good with brown sugar if you're looking for a sweet fix.

Creamy Spinach Sauce

• 1/2 cup of cashews
• 1/4 cup of water
• 4 cups of spinach
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. of safflower oil (or whatever type of oil you have on hand)
• 2 Tbsp. of finely chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. of thyme

    1. Blend the cashews and water until a cream forms. It should look like this:

     2. Add the rest of the ingredients until smooth and creamy.

I also made a whole wheat loaf to go with the meal. To make this, just follow the recipe for whole wheat burger buns through step 5. Once the dough has doubled, punch down and knead for a couple more minutes. Form the dough into a loaf shape. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled again, about 30 minutes. If you're having trouble making the dough rise, place it on the stove towards the back and preheat your oven. Dough needs warm temperatures to rise. Brush the top of the loaf with a mixture of 1/2 Tbsp of water and 1/2 Tbsp of almond milk. Top with sesame seeds if desired. Bake for 20 minutes in a 400º oven.

We ate this bread dipped in a peach balsamic vinegar that I bought from a vendor at the organic Garden of Eve's Garlic Festival. If you're in the Long Island area in September I highly recommend checking out this festival. Last year I bought the most delicious sicilian garlic and made a vegan roasted garlic soup. It's on my to-do list to make again soon, so stay tuned for that post!