Spaghetti Squash with Mushroom and Peas

As I sit here waiting for my Personal Mini Quiches to be ready for this mornings breakfast, it seems only appropriate to work on my next post which features the spaghetti squash that I randomly picked up when I was grocery shopping last week.  I've been following a woman on Instagram who's screen name is 100daysofcleaneating, and it's a daily catalog of her foods and workouts.  Some days I find what she's doing interesting, some days I glide over her post with a quick glance, and a whatever attitude.  Over the last week or so, she has either mentioned or featured spaghetti squash in her posts at least a couple times, and clearly because of this, my subconscious felt the need for some as well.

I'm a squash lover anyway, and I've definitely cooked with the vegetable before, but to be honest, it's not something that makes it into my weekly dinner regimen, and now I'm asking myself why.  In discussing it last night with my BFF Jackie, I was saying how much I enjoy cooking dishes that allow me to walk away, do some prep, and a quick saute, toss it all together, and then pretend that I did a fair amount of work.  This is totally one of those dishes. Keep in mind that outside of the squash, the vegetables that went into this dish ended up in here basically because they are what I had in my fridge, not because they are what I had planned on cooking with the squash itself.  I'm lucky enough to be at a point in my clean eating cooking that I can pick up a handful of random things, see what I'm left with near the end of my week, and then throw something together.  If you aren't there yet, just keeping researching, testing, and eating clean, and at some point it'll all just click, and you'll be able to do the same.

Ingredients:

- 1 Spaghetti Squash
- 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 c. Mushrooms (any variety would be fine)
- 1/2 c. Peas (fresh or frozen)
- 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp. Olive Oil, divided
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- Smoked Paprika, to taste
- 1 tbsp. Shredded Parmesan, divided





Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half from stem to stem, and hollow out seeds.  Rub 1 tsp. of olive oil between the two halves and season with salt and smoked paprika to taste.  Turn the squash halved sides down on the baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper for easy clean up) and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until squash is soft.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place 1 tsp. of Olive Oil in a medium saute pan on medium heat.  Add onion, season with salt and pepper to taste, and saute until translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes, and then add peas (thawed if frozen) and garlic and cook an additional 3 minutes.

3. Reduce heat to low, and take one of your squash halves, holding the skin in your palm carefully with a paper towel or towel, and with a fork shred the inside of the squash from top to bottom until all of the 'meat' of the squash is in the saute pan.  Repeat with the other half of the squash.  Toss all ingredients together.  Top each serving with 1/2 tbsp. of shredded Parmesan cheese.

I split this dish into two servings, however it may have been possible to break it into three depending on what serving size or calorie portion you are looking for.  If you are trying to avoid wheat products, or pasta in general, you'll find that this is a great substitution for those due to the texture of the squash.  Also, as I stated before, you are able to add whatever vegetables or meat that you would like to the dish, so feel free to modify it with ingredients that you prefer, or that you have hanging around at the end of your grocery week to ensure that you don't waste any food in your fridge.

I hope you enjoy as much as my husband and I did!

Maria

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