Recipes at the top, sweet blog post below.
Spaghetti Squash Sausage Boats
- 2 Spaghetti Squash
- 1 pkg Sausage *Your choice, I used smoked knackwurst
- 1 jar red sauce *Your choice, In this version I used Classico Roasted Garlic but I typically make my own
- 4 oz cheese *Your choice, I used applewood smoked gouda
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- Olive oil: 1 tbsp for sausage, enough to lightly coat squash cut side
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Cut each squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the insides and seeds. Pro tip: save the seeds (see post). Rub some olive oil (regular – NOT EVOO) on the cut side of the squash and place them cut side down on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Bake for ~45 minutes until squash is cooked through.
Meanwhile, cut the sausages into bite size pieces. Preheat your pan on a medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan to coat. Add the garlic. When fragrant, add the sausage and cook until the sausage pieces are browned on both sides. Set aside.
Remove squash from the oven and gently scrape the squash from the shell. Be careful not to rip the shell. Place the scraped out squash into a stand mixer. Add in the sausage and the jar of sauce. Mix well on low until combined. Place some of the mixture in each of the shells. Sprinkle the cheese on top and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Devour.
Note on Nutrition Facts: This was if each person had 1 half of a squash. However, these halves are pretty large and could easily be split between 6 people depending on the size of your squash.
This week is all about squash to celebrate SQUASH SEASON! It’s a thing. I just made it and it’s one of my favorite times of the year. I remember making pumpkin pies with my mom when I was a tiny child (or maybe it was just eating ALL THE PIE) and carving up the pumpkins at Halloween, which I still love doing to this day. When I lived on my own, I would dive into all the different squashes and try to make amazing recipes because they were inexpensive. Yeah, I had basically no money. It can be so hard sometimes to eat healthy when you’re on a tight budget or living paycheck to paycheck. So many good memories and sad memories are associated with this vegetable for me that I had to dedicate an entire post to it. Although, fun fact, squash are technically a fruit. Here’s looking at you, Tomato.
My personal favorite types of squash are of the winter variety, which commonly include butternut, acorn, pumpkin, hubbard, kabocha, spaghetti and turban. Not only being one of the tastiest morsels out there, it has so many health benefits as a bonus!
Benefits of consuming squash:
- Reduces the risk of heart and respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis
- It’s an immune system booster from all the Vitamin C
- Fiber rich, which aides in better digestion
- It’s a source of complex carbohydrate (natural sugar and starch)
- Rich in potassium, which is known to help reduce high blood pressure, and maintain proper muscle and nerve function. It also contains magnesium, which actually helps your body better absorb the potassium.
- Contains zinc, another mineral that helps keep normal blood pressure
- Helps lower your cholesterol
- Certain types of squash can also be a good source of protein
- Containing both Vitamin A and beta-carotene, it helps improve your skin health and hydration, and promote healthy vision and immune function. Beta-carotene is a phytochemical that the body changes into Vitamin A and it also acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells from free-radical damage
- It’s not carb or calorie heavy, so it can aid in weight loss
- Spaghetti squash, specifically, has calcium, iron, phosphorus, folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, beta-carotene, B vitamins (vision-aiding) like riboflavin, thiamin, and niacin
- The most nutrient heavy squash is Acorn Squash. One cup of cooked acorn squash has more potassium than two medium bananas, has 9g of fiber, and also contains more folate, calcium and magnesium than some of the other squash varieties.
The best time to buy winter squash is in the fall during September and October, when it is at its peak. When choosing a squash, make sure it has a firm skin with no soft spots or cracks in the skin. If the skin is shiny and soft, than it is not ripe yet. The skin of a ripe squash has a matte finish and should be hard to pierce with your fingernail. Squash ripen in the warm sunlight, so make sure you store it in a cool, dark place until you’re ready to cook it. Squash are super versatile and you can steam, bake, mash, stuff, boil or microwave them and they can be turned into anything from pies to burgers. Dude, it could even be a soup. A little side note, any squash can make a great pie. Pumpkin doesn’t always have to steal the spotlight. That’s right, Pumpkin, I’m calling you out. Come at me, bro. So, maybe this thanksgiving, try branching out and making a kabocha squash pie or butternut squash pie.
I did mention above in my recipe to save the seeds from your squash. Here’s the reason why: you can totally make an awesome snack from roasting and seasoning the seeds (recipe to follow in a later post). I usually wait until I have enough seeds from multiple squash before making my tasty snack. Simply rinse them off after separating them from the squash innards, let them dry off completely, then pop them in an airtight container and put them in the freezer for later use. There’s not even that much waste from cooking a squash!
So are you hungry for some squash yet? Try integrating this adaptable fruit into your diet on a regular basis while it’s in season to reap all those fantastic health benefits and tickle your taste buds! I promise, you won’t be disappointed.