“Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the orchard.”
― Walt Whitman
It feels good to be blogging again. Last weekend I had to finalize grades for the 1st marking period and this week we had parent teacher conferences at school. It is hard to comprehend that it is already November and soon the winter holidays will be upon us. I need to be extra mindful of exercise and making sure that I am preparing healthy versions of the comfort food that my body is craving. We have had many snow flurries in the U.P. and winter is quick on the heals of fall. Mike’s recent food obsession is lasagna and he teased me that he probably should get a Garfield tattoo. (Talk about a childhood flashback since I used to have a Garfield scrapbook that held stickers and cartoons from the Sunday paper.)
With cooler weather, fall forces us indoors and is the perfect time to experiment with new recipes. Have you tried spaghetti squash? It is simple to prepare and is a wonderful substitute for pasta. I bought a large spaghetti squash last weekend and used it to make one of my favorite fall recipes: Spaghetti Squash and Tomato Soup.
To prepare simply pierce the squash with a knife, or fork, and place into a shallow baking pan that is filled with water. (I bake the squash whole and use about an inch of water).
Bake for approximately 60 minutes at 375 degrees (I baked mine for 90 minutes since the squash was large). A friend of mine said that she uses the microwave to cook the squash. She said a large squash takes 10-15 minutes (flip every 4-5 minutes).
Let cool and cut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and use a fork to shred the squash. It will naturally pull apart in strands that will resemble pasta.
Serve with your favorite sauce, herbs, or use in soup or other dishes.
SPAGHETTI SQUASH AND TOMATO SOUP
- 6-8 cups vegetable stock
- 28 ounce can of tomato sauce (I also used a few cups of tomatoes from my garden that I had in the freezer)
- 1/2 large chopped onion
- 3 ribs of celery chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped (I used 1/2 yellow and 1/2 red)
- 1 large carrot chopped
- Large cooked spaghetti squash (Approximately 10 cups)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon each of oregano, rosemary, and basil
Saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot in the olive oil until soft and add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Makes 15 cups.
You could cut the recipe in 1/2 and it would still make a generous pot of soup. I like to make extra to freeze. You could add beans for protein and add any other vegetables such as zucchini and mushrooms. It is delicious, filling, and the addition of tomato sauce makes it taste similar to spaghetti. I rotated this for dinner and lunch last week and I partnered it with a large salad and garlic toast.
If you are a Weight Watchers member it is 1 PP per cup (depending on the vegetable stock and tomato sauce that you are using). Make sure you run it through the Recipe Builder if you add additional ingredients.
When I serve this soup to Mike I add cheese and homemade garlic croutons to the top and brown like French Onion Soup. My friend Jackie made this soup and said she added parmesan cheese and cottage cheese on the side. So I added a couple of Tablespoons of cottage cheese to Mike’s soup, along with a pizza cheese medley, and he said it reminded him of lasagna.
If you have not tried spaghetti squash, I hope my post encourages you to try something new. I hope you enjoy this soup. What is your favorite way to eat spaghetti squash?
Check out my soup tab for other recipes.
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