SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH THAI PEANUT SAUCE

I love everything with peanut sauce! That salty savory on an entree' with fresh steamed veggies is just to die for! Last night's I made this recipe for dinner. Would have been a lot faster if I had noticed the "spaghetti squash" I ordered from grocery pick up was actually a butternut squash BEFORE I cooked it in the crock pot all day. So after a delay of going back to the grocery store and then figuring out how to cook a whole spaghetti squash in the microwave, dinner was back on track. Yes, you can cook it whole, more on that at the bottom of this post!

Last night I had sliced purple cabbage and edamame in the freezer, so I sauteed that and added to the sauce and "noodles". Any combo of veggies or proteins would really work. I love mine with chopped peanuts and cilantro on top!

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium spaghetti squash

olive oil

salt

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ cup chopped parsley or cilantro

2 Tbsp crushed peanuts

Peanut Sauce:

1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk

2/3 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter

¼ cup coconut sugar

¼ cup water

2 Tbsp soy sauce

(substitute Tamari to make gluten-free)

2 Tbsp white or apple cider vinegar

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp red curry paste

DIRECTIONS:

Spaghetti Squash*:

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Half the squash and scoop out the seeds.

2) Drizzle inside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking

sheet and roast for 25 minutes. When spaghetti squash is done roasting, take it out from oven and

let cool for 10 minutes. Then, using a fork, scrape out the spaghetti squash strands. If your squash is

very moist, you might have to place the strands in a colander and pat with paper towel.

Peanut Sauce:

1) Place all sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then

turn down to low and simmer for 5 minutes while stirring almost constantly.

2) Take off heat to cool sauce. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic, chopped parsley

and ¼ cup of the ingredients in the peanut sauce pan and combine. Add spaghetti squash and

crushed peanuts, stir to combine and cook until heated through (about 2 minutes).

3) Plate and garnish with a little more crushed peanuts and chopped parsley. Serve right away.

RECIPE: WWW.LEELALICIOUS.COM

*Options for cooking spaghetti squash.

If you're like me, you dread trying to slice a raw squash with that rock hard shell and scrape and scrape to get the seeds out! Did you know you can cook it whole and then slice when the rind is softened? Yep!!!

Crockpot: poke holes all over the shell. Place in crockpot and cook on low 4-6 hours.

Oven: Preheat to 450 degrees. Poke holes all over. Place on cookie sheet or oven safe pan to catch any drippings. Bake 20 minutes or until shell is softened.

Microwave: (Yes, I try to avoid cooking in the micro, but sometimes this momma is in a hurry!) Poke holes all over. Cook 5 minutes at a time rotating each time until done. I think it took me 15 minutes, but I got to skip preheating the oven!