I am always looking for great substitutes for adding healthier veggies into our eating lifestyle. Spaghetti squash is just one non-starchy vegetable that I do not cook with as often and am finally happy that I have added it to our kitchen as a staple.
There would be many complaints that there is nothing that can substitute pasta or rice, but sometimes when there is a desire and need it is available and willing to be made possible. One morning I decided to roast my squash in the oven but then had an errand to run, leaving my husband to tend to the squash. I get a text back from him saying that he had removed the squash from the oven and that it looked super good. I was afraid he was going to eat it! No, not really, I was just happy that my husband was so interested in it.
I roasted two whole spaghetti squash that allowed me to make 2 meals. Last week I made a Spaghetti Squash Lasagna using the squash as the pasta base and added the meat and cheese as the topping. It was a hit with all of us. I definitely need to post that recipe soon.
Another favorite meal of ours are burrito bowls. We tend to go to Chipotle in a bind or when I just do not feel like cooking but sometimes I just create them at home. When I was creating the dish I was thinking of layering the squash with rice, and then beans and then all the fixings but then I just decided to make a Mexican rice using squash instead of rice.
Once you cook the squash in the oven for 50 minutes, I carefully removed the squash from the skin, so I could leave the squash half shell intact to serve my dish in the squash as a bowl.I stir-fried tomatoes and onions with olive oil and added the cooked squash with some garlic and cooked until the mixture was a little dry. I filled the squash half with the Mexican fried squash and layered with my favorite toppings.
While I could have added black beans, I already had my healthy fats in my squash, so I added grilled chicken, layered with grilled veggies, grated cheese, and topped with a dollop of sour cream. I meant to put guacamole on top but ran out of avocados. Shredded lettuce is also a good options.
While I was super full with HALF of the half squash bowl, I knew I filling my body with yummy foods. Next time I am going to layer some brown rice and cut back on the olive oil in my cooking. Enjoy the recipe!
Squash
- 1 spaghtetti squash
- olive oil or olive oil spray
- salt and pepper
Mexican-fried squash
- 1 whole spaghetti squash, flesh removed carefully from squash shell. Keep skin intact if desired
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ( or 2 teaspoons olive oil to keep as an E-meal)
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts,
- salt and pepper
Toppings
- cheese
- salsa
- Beans (optional) (E-meal if not using so much oil)
- sour cream or fat free sour cream
- guacamole (only for S-meal)
- lettuce
- any additional veggies (optional)
Squash
Chicken
Mexican Fried Squash
Assembly
