Spaghetti Squash with Marinara Sauce

I love squash - butternut, zucchini, spaghetti, acorn, yellow, etc.  This evening, I decided to do a different form of spaghetti using, of course, spaghetti squash as the "noodle".  My boyfriend came up with the idea actually.

To accompany the squash, I made a homemade (meatless) marinara sauce.  I have made this marinara sauce a few times, and it is different than the one I use when I make my "normal" spaghetti or lasagna.

Spaghetti Squash:

2 spaghetti squash
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise - I had to (carefully) use a large knife and a meat mallet to get the knife to slice all the way through.  Then remove all of the seeds and stringy bits using a spoon.

Put the four halves on a baking sheet, cut side up.  Using a pastry brush or marinade brush, brush on some EVOO to coat all of the squash flesh.  Then sprinkle on some salt and pepper.

Bake for one hour.  Remove and let the squash sit for 10 minutes.  Using a fork, scrape the squash to form the spaghetti "noodles".  Place the noodles into a bowl and set aside.  Discard the squash shells.

Marinara Sauce: 

1 tbsp. olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 29 oz can of plain, diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup white wine

Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium.  Add the garlic and simmer for about one minute.  Add the tomatoes (including the juice) and stir.  Toss in the basil, oregano, marjoram, sage, red pepper flakes, and salt & pepper to taste.

Bring the sauce up to a simmer and cook it on medium for about 15-20 minutes to reduce some of the liquid, stirring occasionally.  When the sauce is starting to look a little dry, pour in the white wine.  Simmer the sauce some more to boil off the alcohol and reduce a bit, about 5-7 more minutes.  Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.

Place some spaghetti squash on a plate or in a bowl and top with some marinara sauce.

YUM!!!

The lovely marinara sauce

The spaghetti squash - one scraped and one not

The scraped squash.  It looks like spaghetti, right???

The finished dish.  It is so delicious!

Couscous with Roasted Vegetables

Good evening, readers.

I really love couscous.  It is so quick & simple to make.  You can bulk it up by adding some roasted veggies, dried fruits or anything else you want to add.

Tonight, I cooked up some whole wheat couscous in some vegetable broth and roasted some carrots, zucchini and yellow squash.  I made this meal completely vegan.

You can, however, cook up your couscous in some chicken stock/broth.  That is still quite delicious.  You could also add some protein, like cubed cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, some nuts and/or some chopped hard-boiled eggs.

The recipe for what I made tonight:

Roasted Vegetables:

2 carrots, peeled & chopped
2 medium zucchini, halved and chopped (quarter the bigger "bottom" pieces)
1 yellow squash, halved and chopped (quarter the bigger "bottom" pieces)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Place all of the vegetables onto a large baking sheet.  Pour over some olive oil, enough to coat all of the veggies.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.  With your hands, toss the veggies with the oil and S&P.  Make the veggies form one layer.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let them sit for 10 minutes.

Couscous:
3 cups of vegetable broth/stock
3 cups of couscous

Pour the broth in to a medium saucepan.  Sprinkle in some salt and pepper to taste, if you want.  I didn't add any.  Heat the broth on high until it boils.  Once it is boiling, add the couscous and stir it quickly.  Remove the pan from the heat and cover.  Let it stand for 4-5 minutes and fluff with a fork.  Set aside to cool a bit.

Once the couscous has cooled a bit and the veggies are done resting, combine everything in a large bowl and stir to incorporate everything.  Taste for seasonings and adjust as necessary.

This is good on a bed of spinach or romaine.

Enjoy!

Cobb Salad

Salads - so refreshing and healthy.  I always keep mine on the healthy side by leaving the cheese off and keeping the dressing on the side (if at a restaurant) or making my own (if at home).

After trying many different salads from quite a few restaurants, I have determined that a cobb salad is my favorite.  I really can't put my finger on why the cobb is so enticing to me, but I am under its spell. 

Last night, I made my own cobb salad.  It is somewhat involved, but it is worth the labor. 

The ingredients:

***1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts - seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides and baked on a foil-lined cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  If they are on the thicker side, you will need to bake them longer.  Once out of the oven, let them sit for 10 minutes.  Then cut each piece into chunks and place on a plate.  Let the chicken sit for an additional 10 minutes to get rid of some of the heat.  Cover the plate & refrigerate the chicken to cool it down.

***Hard-boiled eggs - place 8-9 eggs in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Once it is up to a boil, cover the pot and remove from the heat.  Let the eggs sit in the water for 8 minutes.  After that, drain the eggs in a colander and rinse with cold water.  Leave the eggs in the colander to cool a bit more.  Once they are cool enough to handle, peel the eggs and place each peeled egg back in the colander.  Rinse the peeled eggs in cold water to remove any leftover pieces of shell.  Dice each egg into your preferred size.  I know people have their own method of cooking hard-boiled eggs, and they can be quite fussy about it.  Do it your own way, if you please.  I was just typing out how I did mine.

***Turkey bacon - cook 7 pieces in a cast iron skillet according to package directions.  For me, it was place the bacon in the skillet, turn on the heat (medium) and cook to desired crispness.  Once they are done, place bacon on a paper towel to drain off any grease.  Cut the bacon in to 1/2" pieces. 

***Roma tomatoes - dice up two roma tomatoes and place in a bowl.

***Avocado - dice up two avocados and cover them in the juice of one lime.  I squeeze juice on as I cut up each 1/2, so you'll juice four times - stir each time.

***Mixed greens - 1 lb of mixed greens or your choice of green - spinach, arugula, romaine, iceberg, etc. 

***Dressing - as shocking as this may sound, I eat this salad "dry".  I think the juice from the chicken, tomatoes and any vegetables provide enough moisture to act as a dressing.  I save on calories and fat mainly because I think we get enough from the above ingredients, especially the eggs & bacon.  You could always squeeze over some lime or lemon juice or keep some of your favorite on the side and DIP each bite, rather than smother your otherwise healthy salad.  

I put everything out like a buffet for people to assemble their own salad.  The picture below was the cobb salad I assembled from the leftovers to take with me to work today.  :)

Let me know what you think!

Cubed Chicken & Brown Rice with Broccoli and Carrots

So........who doesn't want to eat healthier?

I've been trying, but sometimes I just do not want to cook.  In that case, I am forced to go get something or make something that doesn't involve cooking.  This is a habit I want to happen less and less.  Some of you might say something to the effect of, "Why don't you cook up dinners in advance, like Rachael Ray does on 'Week in a Day'?"  To that, I say, "I will try."

In any event, I made a dish that was rather easy.  I cooked up some brown rice - 1 1/2 cups in 3 cups of water, brought it to a boil and then reduced the heat & simmered it for 45 mins. 

While that was cooking, I sauteed up a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in some olive oil in a medium-large pot.  Before I started cooking them, I salt & peppered the chicken breasts, as well as put some cayenne on one side.  It took about 8-10 mins per side on medium because they were rather thick. 

Once the chicken is done, remove it and set it on a cutting board to rest.

In the same pot you cooked the chicken, toss in some red pepper flakes & some additional olive oil.  Then saute up a medium head of broccoli florets and two chopped carrots on a setting one below medium (usually setting 4).  Grind in some black pepper & toss in some salt.  That'll take about 5 minutes.

When the broccoli and carrots are almost done, cube up the chicken into 3/4" pieces.  Toss the chicken in with the veggies. 

Once the rice is finished, carefully remove the lid.  If you want, give yourself a brown rice facial.  If that isn't your thing, keep your head away from the steam that billows out. 

Fluff the rice with a fork and toss it in with the veggies and chicken.  Add in the juice of one lemon and one lime; stir to combine and serve!