Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Quickie Marinara...

On these bitterly cold winter nights pasta always seems like the perfect dinner idea. It’s warm, steaming, slathered in rich tomato sauce, and it’s filling. What could be better? But maybe you find yourself feeling as I did recently, wanting - no craving - Spaghetti but not wanting all the carbs, calories, and gluten that comes with eating a big bowl of pasta. Well, I have just the thing. Spaghetti Squash! I know, it sounds crazy, but stick with me for a second. Spaghetti Squash is a great pasta substitute! Lets face it, noodles - especially the horrible for you white flour kind - have little to no taste anyway. When it comes to a good bowl of pasta it’s the sauce and the texture that make the dish good. It’s the toppings you drizzle over it that make it amazing. No one eats a bowl of noodles plain, nobody. Nobody that I know anyway. It’s all about the sauce, and with a good sauce a bowl of spaghetti squash not only tastes like pasta it looks like it too, and has a similar texture.

So, Spaghetti Squash makes a fantastic substitute and the best part about it is that it’s super low in both fat and calories. One cup of spaghetti squash only has 33 calories compared to 1 cup of spaghetti which has 221 calories. You could eat the entire squash if you wanted and you’d still only get about 165 calories! As for fat, an entire spaghetti squash only has 25 calories of fat, that’s pretty amazing! Now I am certainly not the first - or the only - person to jump on the idea of using squash as pasta. If you Google it I’m sure you can find dozens of recipes, and I’ve come across various ones in books and on blogs over the years but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to try it for myself. You see, I was always skeptical. I like squash, but spaghetti squash has never been my favorite and so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Even after all the rave reviews I’ve read of it I was still a skeptic. Then I saw spaghetti squash on sale, and since I’d been craving pasta I thought to myself “why not give it a try?” I mean really, what was the worst that could happen? I wouldn’t like it? No big deal. I’ve been trying to eat on the lighter side lately and so the idea of squash as pasta instead of bogging down my gut with a bunch of heavy noodles really appealed to me.

I suppose I needn’t have worried because it turned out so good I’m amazing it took me so long to try it in the first place. The Squash was delicate and subtly sweet, and when scraped into the bowl it looked just like angel hair pasta. Covered in a delicious marinara and topped with fresh herbs and a dusting of nutritional yeast it was hard to tell the difference between what I had in front of me and a traditional bowl of pasta. My husband and I ate an entire squash each, and by the time we’d consumed our bowls we felt full, and satiated but not bogged down like we often do when we eat pasta. So I strongly suggest you give this delicious meal a try and see how you like it.

Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Quickie Marinara

2 Small-Medium Sized Spaghetti Squash

Quickie Marinara 

1 28oz Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 6oz Can Tomato Paste + 6oz water
1 tsp Olive Oil
10 Garlic Cloves Minced
1 White Onion diced
1 C Diced Mushrooms (I used Cremini)
2 tsp Dried Basil
2 tsp Dried Oregano
½ tsp Garlic Powder (Optional if you like your Marinara a little extra garlicky)
½ tsp Sea Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh Basil Minced to garnish
Fresh Parsley Minced to garnish
Nutritional Yeast to garnish (optional)

- Preheat Oven to 450'F

- Lightly spray a large baking dish with cooking spray and place the squash inside it. Bake uncovered for 45-60 minutes until the squash is tender and easily pierced with a fork.

- Remove the Squash from the oven and cut in half. Let stand on the counter for 5-10 minutes to cool.

- Remove the seeds from the squash and discard or save to roast. You can do this with a fork or by hand.

- Once all seeds are removed use a fork to scrape out all of the squash. Divide amongst two (or more) serving bowls and top with marinara, fresh herbs and nutritional yeast or Vegan Parm if desired.

- To make the Quickie Marinara blend the fire roasted tomatoes and the tomato paste in a blender till smooth and then set aside.

- Heat olive oil over medium and add the onions. Saute until they begin to turn soft. Roughly 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and mushrooms. Saute until the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms are soft and they begin releasing their juice. Roughly 5-7 minutes.

- Add in the blended tomato mixture, the basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine then lower the heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add in the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine.

- When squash is ready, spoon the marinara over top and sprinkle over the fresh herbs and nutritional yeast.

Enjoy!

Vegan Mofo #12 - Celine and Joni’s Meatfree Balls...

Vegan Mofo #12 - Celine and Joni’s Meatfree Balls

The Book - The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutes
The Author - Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman
The Recipe - MeatfFree Balls
Page # 114
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 35 minutes

I could gush about these meatfree balls for ages! Seriously, I’ve made several different meatless ball recipes, some that use seitan, some that use tempeh and beans, some that use TVP and I’ve never really been satisfied. Some have had better flavor then others and some have had better texture then others, but these are hands down the best I’ve ever tried. I’ve actually been wanting to make them since getting this book last winter and I just never got around to it, thanks to Mofo I finally found the time.

The balls are really ingenious, and made with ingredients I never would have thought of. I mean unsweetened applesauce? Really? But I’ll tell you, it freaking works! In addition to the sauce there’s peanut oil, nutritional yeast, wheat gluten, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, bread crumbs and BBQ sauce. That’s it, I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but somehow it works. Celine and Joni suggest making a double batch of the recipe which I actually did because even though they say it makes 8 balls, I found they were rather on the small side. Although next time I make these I think I’ll quadruple the recipe.

Once the balls are shaped you wrap them in parchment paper and bake them for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Once finished you can use them how you like, in a pasta, in a sweet and sour meatball dish, or as they suggest in a meatball sub sandwich.

Despite the fact that I’ve never actually liked meatball sub sandwiches in the past, it was this last option that intrigues me most and had me salivating. The picture alone looked so incredible that I thought if the finished product tasted even half as good as it looked it would be a winner. They suggest serving the sub 1 of two ways. Either with BBQ sauce and coleslaw, or Marinara Sauce and Vegan Mozzarella. I decided on the Marinara and Mozzarella for a more traditional sub. I also added in some arugula and green onion for a little extra flavor punch and it was fantastic!  Once you pile on your marinara and mozzarella you broil the sub for a few minutes until the sauce is war, the cheese is melted and the bread is toasty and it all becomes one ooey gooey delicious mess! I really can not wait to make these again, and I can’t wait to try the BBQ-Slaw variation.

In any case I know I’ll never use another “Meatball” recipe again because  these are literally to die for.

Spaghetti with Marvelous Mushroom Marinara.

They say there are no seasons in the Mid West and while that often appears to be true I think a more accurate description of a Mid Western Climate would be to say that they have two very long and extreme seasons, and two very short and mild one. They say there is no Spring here, but there is, it’s generally squeezed in between the end of April and Early Mid May. It’s a glorious two to three week period of overcast skies, occasional sun, mild temperatures and periodic rain. Judging from the intense heat and blaring sun of the past two days however I’d say our Mid Western Spring is once again over. Unfortunately my internal clock hasn’t quite caught up to this rapid-fire seasonal shift because I’m still craving end of winter early spring foods. Of course nobody wants to stir pots of soup, or eat roast anything when it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Still, I would like to share an awesome, and very simple spaghetti with Marinara recipe. For those of you who may be living in a more mild climate where summer hasn’t yet caught up to you, perhaps you can still enjoy it without sweating at your stove. For those of you stuck in a seasonal wasteland like me, maybe a nice cool day will swing by your way, or maybe you’ll just want spaghetti so bad you won’t give a damn about the heat. Either way Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Marvelous Mushroom Marinara.

Ingridients:

1 lb Whole Wheat or Gluten-Free Spaghetti.
2 tsp Olive oil
8 garlic cloves
1-2 tsp dried thyme
4 tsp dried oregeno (or more to taste)
2 tbsp dried parsley (or more to taste)
2 tbsp dried basil (or more to taste)
1 yellow Onion
2 24oz cans Crushed tomatoes
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
14 oz fresh baby bella mushrooms
1-2 tsp dried sage.
sea salt, garlic powder and black pepper to taste

Instructions

- Fill a pot with water and set it on the stove to boil. When boiling, cook spaghetti according to package directions.

- place another pot on the stove, turn to medium heat and pour in 1 tsp of olive oil. Dice onion, and add it to the pot. Saute on medium for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent. Crush garlic cloves and add to the pot while onions saute. Then add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and spices. Taste for garlic and if not garlicky enough for your taste buds sprinkle in a bit of garlic powder. Bring sauce to boil then reduce to medium low heat and let simmer.

- place one tsp olive oil in a pan and heat. Slice mushrooms thinly, then place in the pan and sprinkle with a bit of black pepper and sage. Saute lightly on medium heat for 5-10 minutes. (Until browned)

- Once browned add mushrooms to the sauce pot. You can add a bit more sage in at this point if you like or leave it as is. Continue to let sauce simmer about 30-45 minutes total, and taste again for seasonings.

- If your spaghetti is done before your sauce, drain it and return it ot the warm pot, off the heat, it’ll be okay sitting there until sauce is done.

- When everything is done divide spaghetti amongst plates and top with the sauce, and enjoy.
I was very pleased with this sauce, and I’ll tell you I am no fan of the mushroom. Lately however I’ve been venturing out into the wild world of the fungi. What’s great about this sauce is that it provides a similar texture as a meat sauce, and it doesn’t taste overly of mushrooms. So even mushroom haters like myself can enjoy it.

Now I do have to apologize because I am not the most exact cook. I never have been, even when I’m suppose to be fallowing a recipe. So my measurements aren’t always exact, but I tried to do my best here (that’s why you see so many ‘to taste’s’) What I’m even worse at however is watching the clock when I cook. I never pay attention, again even when fallowing a recipe. My husband makes endless fun of me for this, whenever he asks when something will be ready my answer is almost always some variation of "Well, not too long, like 5 or 10 minutes maybe" again I tried to be as accurate as possible here, but really you’ll do fine. Spaghetti isn’t rocket science, neither is marinara, just use your own discretion.

*** Note: This recipe is Gluten-Free if using Gluten-Free Pasta***