Knowing what to cook can be a pain in the ass, especially when it takes longer than twenty minutes and you’re on a budget. Here are several recipes featuring spaghetti squash– my personal favorite this time of year. With the seasons changing and the craving for hearty meals becoming a harsh reality, spaghetti squash is here to save the day. Whether you’re craving pasta but don’t want to put on the extra pounds or just like the idea that a pasta can be made with a vegetable these recipes might become your fall BFF!
Cooking the Squash
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating, cut the squash in half the long way (like a hotdog). Place an inch and a half of water in a glass casserole pan. Put herbs, salt, and pepper of your choice in the water, then place both halves of the squash face down in the water and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once it is safe to take the squash out of the pan using tongs, begin to scrape the squash out with a fork until only the outer shell is left.
Now the longest (and hardest) part is over. Once the squash is cooked and shredded you can keep it in the fridge. Each squash makes several servings so split it up to make different recipes with the squash throughout the week. Here are a few recipes you can make depending on your mood.
Spaghetti
Spaghetti squash is a great alternative to pasta! For a quick and easy dinner reheat the squash in a pan on the stove and add white or red pasta sauce until warm. Or place in microwave with butter, mix in, and add parmesan cheese.
Apple and Goat Cheese Spaghetti Squash Salad
Pine nuts
Goat cheese
Arugula
Dried cranberries (optional)
Apples (diced)
Strawberries
Lemon
Olive oil
In a large bowl mix the squash, a handful of arugula, a sprinkle of dried cranberries, a few diced apples, and several slices of strawberries. In a cup or bowl add lemon juice and olive oil to taste and whisk until emulsified (combined). Dress the salad and toss. Add goat cheese and pine nuts on top as a garnish.
If you weren’t the type of kid to get excited about all the colorful veggies on your plate try these recipes. They will have you feeling light and satisfied. College budgets make it seem impossible to afford local wholesome foods from farmers markets, rather than cheap imported goods from Safeway. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Farmer’s market produce tends to be more expensive and for good reason– the quality of the food is much higher and loaded with more nutrients than conventional produce.
Buying local not only has the most benefits to your body and health, it also helps support the local economy. Farmers markets are a great way to get to know the farmer, learn about their sustainable practices, and support your community. When we purchase local goods the money we spend gets recycled and it stays in our community, which strengthens the local economy. When you take out transportation costs from imported goods, which results in more gas pollution, you are left with locally sourced goods. Instead of spending money on transporting goods, farmers can use that money to buy more seed for their farm and yield more seasonal produce for us to enjoy. The money cycle becomes a closed circuit and the more we add directly to that circuit the stronger it becomes. Buy locally and support your local farmers!