Spaghetti Squash with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Posted in Dinner by Jen

You will never need to eat pasta again. Ever.

I’m serious. And I’m Italian. So this goes against everything my people believe but I’m sticking to it.

When I would see recipes for spaghetti squash, I tossed them aside, figuring it was just a weird stringy food that could never take the place of my beloved whole wheat spaghetti. But I came across a large spaghetti squash at a farmer’s market this winter and talked to the farmer about it. He couldn’t believe I’d never made one before.

When people who grow food for a living tell me that I “have to try” something, I don’t take it lightly. I took that sucker home, and cooked it up following his (suspiciously simple) directions.

Well first of all, I felt like a food genius. I brought Mike in to see the cooked squash in action.

“Check this out!” I told him, gently plying away the spaghetti-like layers of sweet smelling squash with a fork. I know he was impressed. Who wouldn’t be?

And second of all, it isn’t some weird stringy food. It’s great. Drenched in homemade tomato sauce, it’s almost like eating actual spaghetti, except with fewer calories and carbs. And one spaghetti squash makes quite a bit of food, and is one of those leftovers that makes the early part of my workday a time where I am simply waiting to eat.

Preheat oven to 450F

What You Need:

A spaghetti squash (1-2 pounds)
Tomato sauce. For a great homemade recipe that you can make simultaneously with the squash (efficiency!!!!) use this recipe.

What You Do:

Halve the spaghetti squash lengthwise from the stem to the bottom. Scoop out the seeds and extra stuff.

Place the halves insides down on a baking sheet (you can put foil under them if you want to make the cleanup easier).

**You do not need to use any oil! The squash produces liquid while it bakes and will not stick.**

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the skin starts to pucker and brown. You will also see liquid start to seep out around the base of the squash. You may also see the juices start to caramelize around the base of the squash – this is totally ok and really enhances the flavor. But that also means it’s time to take it out of the oven.

With a fork, gently separate the stringy squash layers from the skin and scoop onto your plate or into a bowl.

Cover in tomato sauce and freshly shredded Parmesan and enjoy!

Pro Tip: You can save the skins and reuse them for in a homemade vegetable broth! Simply freeze them in a large bag with other vegetable cooking scraps until you need to make your broth!

16Mar2014

Delicious Homemade Tomato Sauce

Posted in Dinner by Jen

I have a teeny tiny obsession right now with making tomato sauce. For a long time, homemade sauce fell victim to a list of foods I was simply too intimidated to try and make. This list has been whittled down substantially in recent years, but once included homemade sushi, balsamic reduction, kale chips, homemade croutons, and roasted garlic (I know, I know. The directions are in the name. I still couldn’t do it).

Ready for oven baking!

But tomato sauce has officially been not only removed from that list, but is a new all time favorite. What I love about homemade sauce is that it can be a different kind each time, depending on what’s in the fridge, or what I’m in the mood for. Absolutely anything can go in sauce – or nothing at all! I love pouring fresh, homemade sauce over spaghetti squash or pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, risotto or a timeless favorite – English muffin pizzas 🙂

This is the basic recipe. Obviously the more sauce you want, the more tomatoes you have to use. Below the recipe are a bunch of other ingredient options, but they’re all just suggestions so go nuts with your vegetable drawer and experiment! This is one dish you cannot mess up.

Preheat your oven to 400F

What You Need:

10-15 large plum tomatoes
Half a sweet onion, sliced
3 small cloves of garlic or 2 large ones
1 tbsp olive oil

What You Do:

Halve all the plum tomatoes, slice the onion (can be done roughly, it’s all getting blended up at the end), mince the garlic.

Pour the olive oil into the bottom of a ceramic or glass baking dish and use the facedown half of one plum tomato to spread it around. The bottom of the dish should be very thinly coated with oil. You don’t need a lot because the tomatoes produce a lot of juice as they’re baking.

Line the bottom of the baking dish with the plum tomatoes, face down. On each layer, sprinkle the garlic and onions so they are intermixed.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the tomatoes are pinched and soft when poked.

Load everything into a food processor and blend until well mixed and there are no visible chunks. Use desired amount on your food, and freeze leftover sauce for easy defrosting and use with your next meal!

Pro Tip: Add any of the following ingredients, singularly or in combination, to the baking dish to make different and tasty sauces. I have tried all of these, so I can testify they are all delicious.

Basil (goes great in all sauces regardless of ingredients)
Mushrooms
Eggplant
Sun-dried tomatoes
Zucchini squash
Hot peppers or sweet peppers (or both! or, if you’re obsessed with spicy foods like me, add hot peppers to every homemade sauce dish for a little ziing!)
Shallots
Sausage (add cooked sausage when the sauce is ready to serve, or blend it into the sauce in the food processor)
Scallions
Artichokes

5Mar2014

Loaded Black Bean Turkey Burgers

Posted in Dinner by Jen

I love turkey burger night at our house. I go all out – way past the point I probably should considering it began (more than a year ago) as a quick and easy weeknight dinner solution. But I got carried away. And that’s OK, because the end result is always totally worth it. And for a turkey burger, I consider that a decent dinner achievement.

It happened because Mike eats a LOT, and I like leftovers. Since those two things are hard to reconcile, I started thinking of ways to beef up my turkey, so to speak. You might find there are more other ingredients than turkey, but this recipe makes 6-8 burgers so it’s perfect for a family dinner, or a dinner for two with plenty of leftovers 🙂

What You’ll Need:

1 package ground turkey
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup grated sweet potato
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
Goat cheese (or cheese of choice)

What You Do:

Heat 2 tbsps of olive oil in a large skillet on medium.

In a food processor, blend black beans and sweet potato until course, not smooth.

Add all other ingredients – except the cheese – and mix well. Form into burger patties and place in the skillet. Form a small hole in the center of each patty. Place a few pieces of cheese in each and cover up again.

Cook slowly uncovered, flipping frequently until each side is browned.

Pro Tip: Serve with avocado and pea shoots on top.