More Fun Cooking With Squash

I have to laugh as I read the title of today's blog, because I am an historical 'squash hater'. You certainly wouldn't know it, having the topic of cooked squash occupying space in my day to day thoughts for two posts straight. But it's true.  As a kid, I can remember feeling a twinge of despair as I'd spy my Mom retrieving a translucent bag of yellow crooked neck squash from the crisper. Swimming in creamy, cheesy sauce and topped with crispy buttery topping, I still had to fight the gag reflex with each bite of squash casserole.

Squash was gross. My childhood (and 20-something) opinion was that yellow and orange veggies just shouldn't be. Veggies are meant to be savory, not sweet. To contemplate placing maple syrup, cinnamon, brown sugar, or any other item relegated to baking foodstuffs, on any vegetable was sacrilegious. And any veggie (or I suppose, in this technical case, fruit) that had a hint of sweetness to it was not making its way onto my plate or into my mouth. Yellow squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, carrots, yellow peppers... forget it. In the Land of the Free, sure as shootin' this kid was never going to voluntarily prepare squash, or any other yellow/orange plant item, as an adult. Or make my kids eat something so utterly disgusting. Pinky promise or may I never eat another Hostess baked treat for the rest of my life. 

Yet here I am, not only cooking squash, eating it myself and feeding it to my children. I'm also sharing the recipe because, well, it turned out good. (And, yes, I no longer consume Hostess treats. Sorry Twinkie. And, yes, I do eat carrots and yellow peppers now, too.)

The biggest help to overcoming my closed-mindedness was starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It is highly restrictive, especially in the beginning, eliminating a majority of foods in the 'American' diet, and gradually reintroducing non-processed non-simple carbohydrate containing foods. The endeavor is to determine those foods your body can, or cannot, tolerate. To read more about that, you can go to this wonderfully informative web-site: The Specific Carbohydrate Diet  Or, you can look up the book by Elaine Gottschall, "Breaking The Vicious Cycle". If you decide the diet might work for you, then reading the book is a must. If, after reading the book, you still have the cajones to do the diet, then I recommend you join a support group like the Yahoo Group BTVC-SCD.

Anyway, I digress. What was hysterical (well, not at the time, really) when I first started the diet was that on the very short list of things to eat in the beginning, cooked carrots were somethings I could eat without limit. Welcome to Hell.

The initial weeks of the diet were challenging, at best, as the following veggies that could be added to my limited selection were things like butternut squash. Acorn squash. Spaghetti squash. I had decided to do the diet with my eyes wide open. I'd looked at the Introductory foods, then the first stage of foods for reintroduction, and I knew I had a lot more to overcome than my disease. It was time to kill a palate road block once and for all.

I did a lot of research. A LOT of research. I became particularly fond of a site called Veg Web, which is geared toward vegans. It actually has a lot of stuff I can't eat, ironically enough, because grains and things like milk and soy are on the list of no-no's as my gut heals. Just the same, the creativity with the likes of carrots and squash was enough to inspire me into mixing things up a bit. There is plenty there that I can eat, if I choose not to be picky.

What began as timid experimentation has turned into a love of exploration. I am amazed now at the versatility of carrots and squash. And I'm grateful that my health journey has led me down a road to appreciate these sweet treats from the ground.

All that, shared with you to help you know that I've not always been an ardent veggie-lover, to segue to my recipe:

SCD Spaghetti with Wilted Field Greens, Sauteed Mushrooms and Garlic Butter Sauce
Main Course: 4 - 6 servings
Side Dish: 6 - 8 servings

Microwave safe dish
Medium skillet, with lid
Medium bowl
Stirring utensil
Tossing utensil

1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half and deseeded
1/4 large sweet onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
24 oz. white button mushrooms*
2 generous handfuls of fresh field greens**, chopped coarsely
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
1 c water
 
 First, place water in the microwave safe dish, then set one half (or both, if they'll fit) of the spaghetti squash cut side down into the water. Put the dish into the microwave and cook until soft (this can take anywhere from 7-12 minutes, depending on your microwave and the squash). If you're suspect of microwaves and their impact on your food, you can always place your squash halves in a baking pan instead and cook in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes or so. Again, you're looking for softness.

While your squash is cooking, heat up your skillet over medium heat, adding the butter and olive oil.  Stir them together once the butter's melted, then add the garlic to the pan.  Let it cook for about 1 minute, stirring well so it doesn't burn, before adding the onions. Cook the onions for about 3 minutes more, letting them start to turn translucent.  Now you'll add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to your liking. Keep in mind that this will be a sauce to coat the noodles, so be generous. If not, it'll be too bland. I used about 1/2 t. 

Once you've coated the mushrooms well, lower the heat a little bit and cover the pan so that they can release their juices and take on the flavors of the garlic and onion.

When your squash is finished cooking, you can scoop out its insides into the medium bowl. The squash will be very hot, so use care. Use tongs or a spaghetti spoon to toss the fresh greens in with the freshly cooked squash noodles. The heat from the squash will wilt the greens.

Your mushrooms should be done by now. Taste the liquid to be sure it is to your liking, adding butter, oil, salt or pepper if you feel it necessary. Otherwise, remove from heat, plate the noodles, top with a scoop of the mushrooms (being sure not to neglect the liquid) and sprinkle with Parmesan to taste. Yum!

My daughter's plate, where I've sliced the mushrooms to make them bite sized

 

My hubby's plate, a much larger serving and with the mushrooms left whole

*Mushrooms - You can slice them or leave them whole. You could also experiment with other mushroom types.

**Field Greens - Spinach or kale would also work great with this recipe. If you are on the SCD diet and have not transitioned to raw veggies yet, simply cook the greens up well before adding them.