Vegivore Eats | Baked Spaghetti Squash

If you're like me and prefer to eat produce grown locally and in season, you run into a sort of complacent boredom with the options somewhere around the 3rd week of the season.  Right now, I'm feeling a little root vegetable/winter squash-d out...and I'm sure my clients are, too...and I'm sure you are, too!  How many roasted; cubed; mashed; pureed veggie medleys can one person eat before craving something different?

This spaghetti squash side dish (using produce from Nicewicz Family Farm, Bolton) is primarily, yes, still a squash.  But bear with me -- not only does it gives the nutrition of beta carotene, folic acid, potassium and vitamin A but also offers that something different you've been after.
Spaghetti squash holds a fun secret: once the heat hits this squash for a relatively short time, the sweet, solid flesh inside is able to be scraped away into long, delicate strands, hence the name spaghetti squash.  An easy stand-in for calorie-heavy pasta dishes, a new-textured side dish instead of the normal mashed potatoes. Tender with the slightest, perfect crunch. 
In this recipe, coriander and caraway lend a nutty citrus taste (slightly reminiscent of parsley), maple syrup provides seasonal sweetness, a squeeze of lime balances the flavors and chopped walnuts give a healthy dose of omegas as well as satisfying, subtle crunch.  Not your every day side dish, easy, pretty, awfully tasty...and different!

BAKED SPAGHETTI SQUASH

feeds 2-3

(1) 2 lb spaghetti squash

1 TBS olive oil

1 TBS fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 TBS maple syrup

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp caraway seed, ground

3/4 tsp salt, divided

pepper, to taste

1/4 c walnuts, chopped and lightly skillet-toasted

4 scallions, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  

Place the squash, whole and unpeeled, on a baking sheet and slide the whole thing into the oven.  About an hour later -- does the skin give a little when pushed on?  It's done.

Using a sharp knife, slice the squash lengthwise in half.

Now the fun part!  Take a fork and scrape away the flesh into "noodles".*

Add 1/4 tsp salt and let stand 5 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the excess moisture.  Place back in a bowl, use the fork to "fluff" the strands and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, maple syrup, coriander, caraway, remaining 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper.

Pour the mixture over the squash (you may not use all of it), fluff again with fork, add the walnuts, scallions and pepper to taste.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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* PRO TIP: There is no perfect method to scraping the squash.  My preferred method is to take a fork, stick it in the flesh of one  half and turn it 180 degrees. Repeat all over.

PRO TIP: Spaghetti squashes range in color, from so light a yellow it's almost white, to a medium orange shade.  Choose more colorful varieties for more nutrition (same goes for any fruit or vegetable, for that matter).  A more orange spaghetti squash can offer up to double the beta carotene.