Let me start by saying — I LOVE spaghetti squash.
I used to make it maybe once or twice a month, but for the past few weeks, it’s become a Sunday night tradition for me to make some kind of spaghetti squash dinner for my husband and me. So far we’ve tried two recipes from SkinnyTaste (Cheese Baked Spaghetti Squash Boats and Spaghetti Squash Lasagna) and last week I tried Rachael Ray’s Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom Ragu. The two from SkinnyTaste were really good, but Rachael Ray’s recipe was a total bust. So bland and tasteless. blech!
Anyway! I wanted to make another spaghetti squash dish tonight, but I’m getting a little tired of the Italian theme. I found a recipe for WW-friendly Asian meatballs and thought — why not try to make some kind of Asian spaghetti squash to go with it? I did a quick Google search for ‘Asian Spaghetti Squash Recipes’, and there were a couple, but none of them looked like exactly what I was looking for (or called for ingredients I didn’t have on hand).
So I made one up. And it actually turned out really good!! I basically just stir-fried the veggies I had on hand, then added a soy/peanut sauce that I’ve used for noodles before.. and voila! “Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash” was born!
Here’s my “recipe” if you want to try it yourself:
INGREDIENTS
1 large spaghetti squash, cooked and strands removed. (My favorite way to do this is to cut the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and place cut-side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about an hour.)
8 oz thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced (I used my julienne peeler. LOVE.)
1 tbs minced garlic
large handful chopped cilantro
Sauce:
2 tbs chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
juice from half a lime
DIRECTIONS
1) Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. (If the PB doesn’t want to mix up with the soy sauce, you can microwave it for about 30 seconds and it should come together better.)
2) Spray a large deep skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium-high. Add mushrooms, pepper and carrots and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes, until garlic is softened.
3) Add spaghetti squash strands to the veggie mixture and stir to combine. Turn off heat.
4) Add sauce, and stir until all of the veggies are coated. Top with cilantro and serve!
Now I’m not one of those people who pretends spaghetti squash actually tastes like spaghetti. Let’s face it … it doesn’t. But I have to say, with this peanut sauce on it, I almost fooled myself into believing I was eating Asian noodles. And my husband (who is definitely not a huge fan of vegetables) LOVED it. He even asked to take the leftovers to work with him tomorrow. Yay!
But the best part? I only had to count the points for 1 tbs peanut butter (actually less than that because I ate less than half of the recipe) because the rest of the recipe is Simply Filling. Yay!
Oh and the turkey meatballs were really good, too. I found that recipe here.
So anyway… let me know if you give it a try. And if you have any great spaghetti squash recipes, please share! I’m sure we’ll be eating some more next Sunday! 🙂
aLittleLessJen 