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Hello and welcome to Freshly Served, the healthy vegan cooking show. Iím Heather and tonight
we are making a spaghetti squash dish with some lemon caper sauce.
So Iím sure some of you have heard of spaghetti squash, some of you maybe havenít and I always
have trouble because of the grocery store I shopped at they donít label the different
squash so I never know which kind is which so this is a spaghetti squash, yellow when
you cut it open thereís gonna be seeds in the middle just like normal squash.
But youíll notice that the flesh starts to come apart in strands which kinda look like
spaghetti hence the name spaghetti squash. So thereís a bunch of different ways that
you can cook this but what Iím gonna do tonight is roast this in the oven and weíll do that
the same way we roast a normal squash.
So the first thing you wanna do is poke some holes in the squash flesh so that the heat
will enter into the squash and help the flesh cook. Most squash are gonna cook up really
nice and soft and kind of creamy.
Spaghetti squash is a little bit different because it comes apart in this spaghetti like
strands. And it doesnít get fully soft. Itís going to stay kind of solid but the strands
are gonna break apart.
So Iíve turned my oven to about 350F and then I will get some oil just a little bit
in each of the squash halves and Iím gonna rub this around with my hands. Now the reason
weíre doing this is to protect the squash from drying out in the oven.
So you really donít need very much oil and you donít have to worry about this really
adding fat to your meal because itís really tiny amount in here. Ok? So get it all over
the skin on the outside and on the inside and then weíll take some salt.
Now the purpose of salt is to help the squash cook to draw the moisture out and to help
it soften up but if we add the salt before the oil the flavor is gonna come out of the
squash so we put the oil on first to protect the flavor and the moisture and then the salt
to help it cook. So there we go, thatís gonna go in a baking dish in the oven at 350F for
about half an hour and while that cooks im gonna get started on the sauce.
While my spaghetti squash is in the oven, Iím gonna get this sauce together because
weíre gonna be using raw garlic which I have minced right here and raw garlic is really
fantastic to eat every so often. Cook and raw both provide some benefits and the best
thing is to get a balance of the two like I always say balance and variety key to health.
But raw garlic is pretty potent if you have never have it before, lot of people canít
handle it, if you are one of those I would suggest roasting the garlic in the oven with
the squash before you put it in here otherwise if you get this sauce started now the garlic
is gonna have some time to marinate with the other ingredients and kind of soften up a
little bit.
So what Iíve started with are some capers in the bowl right here then I have some parsley
which Iím gonna chop up and I really like parsley so Iíve got a lot here but use as
much as you like.
Iíve got a lemon that Iím going to zest and then juice and zest is where you just
take the outside of the peel off with this tool called a zester. Grater also works but
zesters are quite cheap and very easy to use.
Thatís just my oven done preheating. Iíve put the squash in before I was done pre heating
because the squash isnít really mine. Ok so once you zest your lemon youíre gonna
chop it in half, juice it, itís gonna be lovely.
Iíve got some sun dried tomatoes which I buy the kind that are just dry and then I
soak them in water to soften them up a little bit. Iím gonna chop those up and toss them
in and Iíve got some green onion that Iím going to chopped just thinly sliced and put
in here as well.
If youíre looking for amounts what I normally do with this kind of sauce is Iím looking
how much lemon juice in my bowl now having squeeze it out of the lemon Iím gonna add
the same amount of olive oil as I have lemon juice.
You donít need any more than that and you probably need less if you wanted to but you
do need some oil and then you just gonna need to whisk this baby up. Sorry my whisk was
in the drawer.
So get that whisk together and then youíre gonna throw in the garlic, the parsley, the
green onions and the sun dried tomatoes and then weíll add salt at the very end.
So Iíve got all my ingredients in the bowl here you can see I have a ton of parsley.
I love parsley and sometimes it likes to escape the bowl but I always get it back. Now anyway
parsley is one of those foods that is just so healthy at so many levels. Most of the
green vegetables have just a ton of nutrients in them and parsley is definitely one of those.
Now the amount of liquid in here is very little, the reason is that I donít really need a
lot of sauce in this spaghetti squash what I basically want to do is just bring some
flavor in and have it be a little bit wet so that it can coat that squash.
Again you can definitely use less parsley that Iím using here and you can use different
herbs if you like or any kind of greens so arugula would be great, parsley bring in some
kind of spiciness so thatís why I mentioned arugula, itís also kind of spicy.
Mizuna might be nice depending on what you like, depending on whatís available in your
area so just let that sit while the squash finish its baking and the flavors will begin
to merge. Oh! Speaking of I forgot to add the salt, weíre just gonna add some salt
there and thatís gonna be what will bring the flavors together. Remember the purpose
of salt not to make things taste salty, itís to bring the flavors together especially important
with that garlic in there.
So my squash been in the oven for about half an hour since its finish preheating and Iím
gonna take it out because itís smelling pretty done and weíll take a look here. Its smell
almost buttery, itís kinda nice.
So if I poke this, itís not gonna be soft like a regular squash what you might be use
to but when I poke it with a fork, if I take the fork back and forth like so I can see
that the strands are separating and some of the bits of the squash are getting really
soft.
So thatís look pretty done, Iím gonna turn the oven off and now comes the fun part, trying
to get the squash out of the skin. So what I will do is transfer this, if I can pick
it up over to my cutting board.
And what you need to do here is take your fork and start separating the squash from
the skin and itís never the most fun but itís worth it coz squash is great and itís
not as hard as you might think. So if you see when I separate it with the fork it comes
out in these beautiful strands.
I find the easiest way to get at this squash is to put your fork in right by the skin and
then tilt it forward and its gonna come out then you can see all these beautiful strands
here.
A lot of people have started replacing spaghetti with spaghetti squash I think thereís still
some value in getting some whole grain pasta. It is process but grains do have a really
good place in your diet but I think itís also really nice to get a variety.
So every so often I have some spaghetti squash its great especially in the winter squash
has a lot of vitamin A which helps your immune system through the winter and they also help
warm you up because they need to be cooked for a fairly long time in the oven and that
helps warm up your body.
Oh yeah! All of the good stuff! And so thatís been sitting while the squash was cooking.
The flavor had have time to really come together and thereís just a little bit of liquid to
help bring it together and then Iím just gonna toss this and weíll be ready to eat
a delicious lemon capers spaghetti squash.
There we go! Ready to serve a delicious lemon caper spaghetti squash! Your gonna get some
excellent nutrition in that squash and some amazing flavor coming together with parsley,
lemon, some tang and then some saltiness from the capers and sun dried tomatoes. Enjoy your
dinner.