My Spaghetti Sqash Addiction

I admit it.  I LOVE Spaghetti Squash.  I do.  It has to be my new all time favorite fast, inexpensive, hearty, healthy, low calorie food.  I've been craving pasta so this week I made a really hearty sauce with diced chicken sausage and a little bit of salami sauteed with onions and celery.  Michael of course had his with the real stuff although I did make sure it was whole wheat.

I used the spaghetti squash in place of pasta for me and was in total heaven!  There are lots of ways to cook the squash but since I was short on time I microwaved it in a little water bath for about 10 minutes.

Scraping out the squash after it is cooked gives me a little over two cups in 1/2 of the squash.  Looks like pasta right?

I did not even miss the pasta and was able to have a huge bowl rather than limiting myself to just 1/2 a cup.  Did you know a four ounce serving is only 37 calories?  I topped with some fresh grated Parmesan and I had a healthy but super filling dinner.

The next day, I used the other 1/2 of the squash to make a "pasta" salad.  I tossed a bunch of chopped up veggies including broccoli, tomatoes, red bell pepper, hearts of palm, and added kidney beans, fat-free feta, Gaelos Miso Caesar dressing, and fresh basil.  All for only 225 calories!

I've been cooking with spaghetti squash for awhile but thought I'd do a little investigating before this post on just how good the squash is for you.  I came across this article on Faulousfoods.com that gives some good tips on preparation, storage and nutrition.