Stuffed Spaghetti Squash With Quinoa Food

QUINOA STUFFED SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F Cut squash in half lengthwise, scrape out seeds & drizzle with a small bit of olive oil. Place on foil lined roasting pan & bake for 1 hour. It should be tender when poked with a knife or fork.
• Saute onion in a 2TB olive oil. Add garlic, oregano & a pinch of salt. When soft, add quinoa & vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer & cook, covered about 15 minutes. Stir in raisins & let sit, covered.
• Toast pignoli nuts in a dry skillet. Set aside.
• When squash is cooked, scrape the strands into a LARGE bowl. Season with salt & freshly ground pepper. Add cooked quinoa & toasted pignoli nuts, toss to combine. Add vinaigrette, toss to combine. Refill squash halves or put in a casserole dish & keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

QUINOA-STUFFED ROASTED SQUASH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 15x10x1-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Cut each squash lengthwise in half; remove seeds and fibers. Cut 1/8-inch slice from bottom of each half so squash will sit flat in step 4. Place squash, cut sides down, in pan; bake 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat quinoa and broth to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.
• In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic and sage in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are crisp-tender; remove from heat. Add cranberries; stir until coated. Stir in cooked quinoa and all remaining ingredients except parsley until blended.
• Remove squash from oven; turn squash, cut sides up. Divide quinoa mixture evenly among squash halves, pressing down on filling to form slight mound over cavity. Cover loosely with foil. Bake 30 minutes longer or until squash is tender and filling is thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with parsley.

STUFFED SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH QUINOA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Prepare the Spaghetti squash: Cut squash in half along the longitude line. Scrape out the seeds etc. Place cut side up in baking dish. You want them to sit upright and not tip over, cut the back flat if necessary. Smear insides with crushed garlic,drizzle with oil and salt to taste. Place in preheated oven while going to the next step.
• In a skillet, brown the beef with the onion. (optional -- you can add green pepper or other veggies at this step.) Add rinsed quinoa and continue to cook for about a minute then add the beef broth. Bring to a boil before reducing to low. Cover and cook about 15 min until mostly cooked through.When the quinoa is partially cooked but there still is an uncooked spot at the center, remove lid and continue to cook on medium until any extra broth has evaporated.
• While the beef/quinoa is cooking, put the tomato paste and diced tomatoes into a sauce pan. Add water and blend with the paste until the consistancy is that of pasta sauce. For me it was about 2/3rd cup. Simmer on the stove with italian spices and salt and other seasonings to your taste. You could also skip this step and substitute your favorite red pasta sauce.This made a scant 3 cups.
• Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta sauce and combine the rest with the beef/quinoa. Adjust seasonings to taste.
• Remove squash from the oven and fill with the stuffing. Note: You will probably only use half of the stuffing. Put the rest around the squash or you could double the squash to stretch to even more servings.
• Top with the reserved pasta sauce and if your diet allows you could add some parmesan cheese.
• Cooking time will depend on how cooked the squash got during the preparation time. I kept getting interrupted so mine was in the oven for over an hour. It was almost done cooking so I did not cover the dish but just cooked it long enough for the flavors to blend. When I tried this with raw squash it took well over an hour to cook.
• Cooked spaghetti squash is tender when pierced and the flesh shreds easily into "spaghetti" strands. Serve one half squash per person with additional pasta sauce if desired.
• I think this could easily be made in the crock pot. I will try it and post the cooking times.