OK, this is kind of cheating b/c we have had spaghetti squash before...but it seems like it's been a year or two, at least - and when you have young kids - a year or two can be half a lifetime and so I wasn't too sure if they would have remembered tasting it.
The first time I ever heard of spaghetti squash was about 16 years ago...I was single and working in an equipment leasing office (my first "real" job). My boss (male) had hired a new receptionist/admin person...a job that required typing. The new hire was a young, attractive woman, with I'm not sure what kind of experience, but she COULD NOT TYPE and she even told my boss that. It's not really the type of skill that you can just pick up on the fly - you kind of need to know how to type, and to type quickly and accurately when you are in an admin job.
Well I remember she brought her lunch to work one day and it was spaghetti squash - a new food to me, and an unusual one, especially being that back then my lunches often consisted of a bag of Salt n Vinegar chips and a Coke.
I'm happy to say Miss-I-Cannot-Type didn't last very long at the company...
The spaghetti squash is kind of a deceiving creature...it looks boring and tasteless and just has an unpleasant sounding name - squash. You don't start out with real high expectations - but you ed up surprised.
The first task in preparing the squash isn't very easy - especially when you have a hodge-podge of knives that are not suitable for cutting into a very hard, large, vegetable. If you microwave the squash for a minute or two before the attempted cutting, it makes it easier.
Cut the squash in half, scoop out the messy innards (similar to a pumpkin) of stringy/gooey stuff and seeds. Place the cut sides down in a glass baking dish, add about 1/2 cup of water, cover, and microwave for about 15 minutes. Now I'm certain you can do this all in an oven, but I have a microwave and it's quicker so that's what I do.
Remove the squash from the baking dish (they will be very hot so you might want them to sit and cool their heels for about 5 minutes), flip them over and begin lightly scratching at the inside of the squash, with a fork. The little spaghetti like strands will come apart very easily - my daughter enjoyed helping with that part.
You can eat the spaghetti plain, but it's best with a bit of butter, salt & pepper. My kids love plain pasta or pasta with a bit of parmesan cheese sprinkled on it - so I thought they might want to add some cheese, but they declined.
Everyone loved the spaghetti squash!! I figured the girl probably would (she loves carrots, raw pumpkin, zucchini and the like) - so I was pleasantly surprised at the boys relish for it. Guess I'll be adding it to our meal repertoire (such as it is) more often than once a year or so.
If you are a spaghetti squash lover - how do you season and serve yours?
The first time I ever heard of spaghetti squash was about 16 years ago...I was single and working in an equipment leasing office (my first "real" job). My boss (male) had hired a new receptionist/admin person...a job that required typing. The new hire was a young, attractive woman, with I'm not sure what kind of experience, but she COULD NOT TYPE and she even told my boss that. It's not really the type of skill that you can just pick up on the fly - you kind of need to know how to type, and to type quickly and accurately when you are in an admin job.
Well I remember she brought her lunch to work one day and it was spaghetti squash - a new food to me, and an unusual one, especially being that back then my lunches often consisted of a bag of Salt n Vinegar chips and a Coke.
I'm happy to say Miss-I-Cannot-Type didn't last very long at the company...
The spaghetti squash is kind of a deceiving creature...it looks boring and tasteless and just has an unpleasant sounding name - squash. You don't start out with real high expectations - but you ed up surprised.
The first task in preparing the squash isn't very easy - especially when you have a hodge-podge of knives that are not suitable for cutting into a very hard, large, vegetable. If you microwave the squash for a minute or two before the attempted cutting, it makes it easier.
Cut the squash in half, scoop out the messy innards (similar to a pumpkin) of stringy/gooey stuff and seeds. Place the cut sides down in a glass baking dish, add about 1/2 cup of water, cover, and microwave for about 15 minutes. Now I'm certain you can do this all in an oven, but I have a microwave and it's quicker so that's what I do.
Remove the squash from the baking dish (they will be very hot so you might want them to sit and cool their heels for about 5 minutes), flip them over and begin lightly scratching at the inside of the squash, with a fork. The little spaghetti like strands will come apart very easily - my daughter enjoyed helping with that part.
You can eat the spaghetti plain, but it's best with a bit of butter, salt & pepper. My kids love plain pasta or pasta with a bit of parmesan cheese sprinkled on it - so I thought they might want to add some cheese, but they declined.
Everyone loved the spaghetti squash!! I figured the girl probably would (she loves carrots, raw pumpkin, zucchini and the like) - so I was pleasantly surprised at the boys relish for it. Guess I'll be adding it to our meal repertoire (such as it is) more often than once a year or so.
If you are a spaghetti squash lover - how do you season and serve yours?
4 comments:
We love spaghetti squash--which reminds me that it is time to pick some up. I usually serve it with olive oil and garlic over it (my oldest is severely allergic to tomatoes so no spaghetti sauce.
Spaghetti squash is delicious! I like mine with butter, garlic and parmesan cheese. Yum!
I've never had spaghetti squash, but it sounds delicious.
Tonight we had Maple Roasted Chicken which included butternut squash (which tasted good in this particular recipe).
The butter and parmesan is definitely great, but I also love to have it with butter and just a *touch* of honey. Yum!
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