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5 Recipe Ideas for Spaghetti Squash

FitSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:30:00 -0700

If you've visited a farmers market recently, you must have noticed the abundance of fresh veggies being harvested. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and now squash. One of my favorites is spaghetti squash because it's so unique. But people tend to avoid this squash because they don't know how to prepare it. Here are some recipe ideas to inspire you to experiment with spaghetti squash.

Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and bake it at 350°F for 30 minutes or until you can pierce it with a knife with little resistance. While it's baking, sauté diced onions, tomatoes, one minced clove of garlic, and a handful of chopped fresh basil. Scoop out the flesh with a fork (it should be stringy), place it on a plate and top with your tomato mixture. Instant low carb spaghetti.
Bake the same way as above, but this time scoop out the flesh, place in a bowl, and allow it to cool in the fridge. After 20 minutes, pour the squash flesh onto a cutting board and chop it up a little. Place it in a bowl and mix in diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lemon juice, olive oil, spices, feta, and olives to make a Greek salad.

To see the other three recipe ideas read more.

Bake, allow to cool, and then marinate spaghetti squash with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, and rosemary. Top it on your garden salad for a little extra flavor and texture.
Bake, chop up stringy flesh of squash, and season it with cayenne pepper. Use it in place of rice in tacos and burritos.
For a treat, before placing it in the oven to bake, sprinkle cinnamon, a little nutmeg, a drizzle of honey, and top with chopped walnuts. Serve warm.

Learn to Love: Spaghetti Squash

FitSugar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:30:00 -0800

If you are trying to eat less carbs, or up your intake of veggies, you need to try spaghetti squash. The flesh of this squash has a firm and stringy consistency so it holds up nicely when mixed with tomatoes, roasted veggies and pesto. Plus a cup of spaghetti contains only 10 grams of carbs, compared to 43 grams of carbs found in regular old spaghetti. It is also a low calorie food; one cup contains only 42 calories, where as the spaghetti pasta has 221 calories per cup.

Have I piqued your interest?

To learn how to cook spaghetti squash, just read more.

Baking spaghetti squash takes a little longer than boiling real spaghetti, but it's really easy.

Cut a whole squash in half and remove all the seeds. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the halves cut side down, in a dish with half an inch of water. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until it's tender. If you're pressed for time, you can also microwave it. Place the cut sides down on a damp paper towel in a microwavable dish and cook for about 15 minutes.
Take a fork and scrape the stringy squash out onto individual plates. Add a little salt and pepper if you want.
Top with your favorite pasta sauce and enjoy.

Source

An American Native: Spaghetti Squash

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:34:15 -0800

I am always trying to get more fruits and veggies in my diet, and while I am not quite sure which category spaghetti squash falls into I will freely admit I love it. Since it is National Spaghetti Day, I thought I'd pay a little tribute to this very unique squash.

When you first cut it open, the flesh looks like any other squash, but after it is cooked the flesh tears into ribbons resembling spaghetti. Don't be deceived by its looks - it tastes nothing like spaghetti. It is slightly sweet and, if not overcooked, is crunchy and watery, like cucumber.

Spaghetti squash is versatile and can be baked, boiled or steamed. Serve it with pasta sauce or use it as a vegetable base for macaroni and cheese. I like it with a little garlic sauteed in olive oil, a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese and roasted walnuts.

Nutritionally speaking spaghetti squash contains: folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, and beta carotene. Plus it's a low calorie food, averaging 75 calories in 8 cooked ounces. One more factual tidbit of note - it is a New World veggie, native to the Americas.

If you are interested in eating some, check out Cooks.com. The site has a bunch of recipes for spaghetti squash.

How to Sneak More Veggies Into Your Diet

FitSugar — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:50:29 -0700

Making veggies a big part of your daily diet is a must because they're low in calories, high in fiber, and contain so many beneficial nutrients. Unfortunately, we don't crave broccoli like we do a big bowl of ice cream, so here are some suggestions from FitSugar readers on ways to sneak veggies into your foods without your taste buds knowing.

UrbanBohemian says, "I like to put my own veggies in marinara sauce when I eat pasta. Also, if I have a frozen pizza, I'll do the same for that. I like to put on frozen spinach or some mushrooms."
"Sneak them in sandwiches." - fleurdelispink
"I've added pureed beets and/or spinach to muffin batter or I bet you could to cake batter too - totally unnoticeable. I know someone who added pureed spinach to brownies, same deal." - Anonymous

For more ideas keep reading

Celebrity Trainers Give US the Scoop...

FitSugar — Thu, 24 May 2007 12:30:00 -0700

People are always ~~begging~~ asking me what Jessica Biel does to look so fit, as if I know the girl personally or something. So when I come across anything related to what she does (or eats, or thinks about eating), I like to give you guys the scoop because, I'll admit it: That girl does look good in her jeans, but she looks killer in a bikini.

USMagazine.com has gotten inside information from Jason Walsh, Jessica's trainer, along with other notable celeb trainers on what the stars are doing these days:

Change is good! Jessica Biel's trainer, Jason Walsh, likes to keep his client mentally stimulated. "I'm a big advocate of recreational sports and stuff. If someone can get out there, even if it's a hike or something like that, just to break up the monotony of going to the gym...I really like that."
Hard work is even better. According to Walsh, Biel's workouts are intense. "We do full body movements. You are pretty much using as many muscles at once, which in turn will jack that heart rate up."
Food is not the enemy. If you're out and about as Walsh recommends, you need snacks and drinks to give you sustained energy. He suggests "really organic and clean foods, all natural, like nuts." Also, "an amino acid drink, so that you're not burning up a lot of your muscle, or protein."
Everything old is new again. Walsh loves to use medicine balls with his intermediate to advanced level clients. "Get a medicine ball and do a lunge with a twist while you are holding the ball. Those are great. You are activating so many muscles at once, and you are using those muscles over so many different plains."
Healthy meals can be tasty. Harley Pasternak, who works with Eva Mendes and Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, taught both of the actresses how to cook meals with some easy, healthy substitutions. "Breakfast would be whole grain bread French toast with egg whites and cinnamon. For a mid-morning snack, they'd do a mixed-berry protein shake. Lunch might be sweet potato tuna melt. An afternoon snack might be hummus with celery sticks. Dinner would be spaghetti and meatballs with spaghetti squash and meatballs made of turkey or chicken breast."
Just because it's trendy doesn't mean it works. Pasternak doesn't do yoga or pilates with his clients. "Those are great forms of exercise for stability and balance, but neither one of those is going to change your body dramatically like training with weights does."
The "F" word is not all bad. Rachel McAdams' trainer, Jerry Owen, says, "The biggest problem is that people are fat phobic. It¹s clinically proven that we need healthy fat in our diets. You need to eat a balanced diet but not be afraid of fat, like Omega 3 fatty acids like walnuts, olive oil and even coconut oil."
Focus on your whole body - not just problem areas. Owens tells Us the best way to lose weight and tone up is "to blend nutrition, exercise, and physical therapy. The body responds better. People get too wrapped up in doing isolated movement, like being very body part specific."
All cardio and no lifting makes for bad workouts. "People get too cardio-crazy and need to do more weight lifting," says Owens. He explains that for many people on elliptical machines, "their heart Rate is about the same as if they were shopping around a mall."
Everybody needs a break. Owens delivers the best news possible: working out for more than an hour is a "waste of time." He suggests gym-goers "take one to two days off a week: have a massage, make sure you get plenty of rest. The muscles actually change when they're recovering."

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