Spaghetti Squash - God's Answer to Pasta-free Living

Okay. I'll be honest. I've seen them in the produce department at my local grocery stores for years. But, they always just appeared to be more of a Fall decor item than a potential dinner item.

I'm talking about the Spaghetti Squash.

And I had never given it a moment's thought - its name or its culinary potential... until I had to go pasta-free. And I came across this pesto version on Pinterest, so finally relented and gave it a second look and a serious try.

And although it was rather a task to cut into the darned thing, I will say I was more enamored with what it beheld inside than anything. It is seriously just like spaghetti noodles... all up one side and down the other. It was amazing! I still can't get over it. It's just one of those things you can't really picture in your mind until you actually see it for yourself. But, sure enough... you scrape the cooked squash down from the sides and it is every bit as much like spaghetti as anything you'd ever seen. Amazing.

And not hard to cook at all. 

Once you get past the cutting in half, you just scrape out the seedy innards and add some good ol' olive oil to either side of it, place them in a pan and bake. (I wasn't sure whether to cook them open-side up or down, so did one of each and it seemed to me that the one that was faced down held the moisture in it better.) Mine was still a bit crispy when I ate it, so not sure if that's how it always is or if I could've cooked it longer, but with some pesto thrown into it and served alongside some chicken with tomatoes... Mmm Mmm Good. I even made the pesto myself, too! So, it was very fresh and beautifully bright green from all that good basil! I just left out the pine nuts, because I didn't feel like I should add those back in quite yet.

But, I recommend trying this amazing often overlooked item in your local produce department! It really might surprise you!  :)