The Spaghetti in Squash

Last week I did some pretty intense travelling. First my family and I camped out in a hotel in Vancouver in order for me to get a medical examination (I am in the process of applying for a green card so my husband can work in the States for a few years: Did I mention he got a job at Harvard?). Then I had to fly to Montreal for an immigration interview. For those of you in know, yes there is a consulate in Vancouver and yes that is where I first applied. Go figure, it has to be done that way so that is the way I did it. All the while eating a pretty heavy diet punctuated by some awesome meals.

Tofu hollowed out with shredded carrot, wrapped in 

nori, encrusted with panko crumbs on a bed of red and soy beans in an orange sugar glaze at

Accords In Montreal

First in Vancouver my husband and I went to Vij's with a dear friend, then in Montreal after my interview I found a nice quiet restaurant to dine alone Accords and then again in Vancouver before the tots and I headed back to Pender Island I hit up another quiet spot Gaia.

Roasted Garlic Polenta filled with goat cheese, honey, pear and arugula, served with a side salad of mixed organic greens at Gaia in Vancouver

It is no surprise today that I walked by a Spaghetti Squash and said to myself I must have that. I was in an all veggie mood and inspired by the spaghetti in Spaghetti Squash I decided to make myself a nice vegetarian dish. This can be made vegan by altering the simple tomato sauce recipe (use olive oil instead of butter) and leaving the parmesan cheese garnish off and replace with some crispy mushrooms (do the same, use all neutral oil instead of butter). For the squash I sliced it in half removed the seeds, guts and rubbed a bit of olive on the firm flesh then roasted it in a low oven for an hour. Then scooped out the insides trying to keep the integrity of the spaghetti like strands. I then put the flesh in a bowl covered with tinfoil to steam back in the warm oven*.

When the sauce was done I ladled it over the Spaghetti Squash and garnished with grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

The ease and slow cooking of this recipe/method allowed me to undo one weeks of dirty laundry!

photos by me.

*Turn it off or keep on low depending on how long until you use it.