Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

The first year that we were married, I decided to surprise Tim on his birthday by making him a special breakfast.

I got up early, snuck into the kitchen, eased the door closed so I wouldn’t wake him and proceeded to whip up a batch of delicious, creamy scrambled eggs.  But did I stop there?  Absolutely not!  This was his first birthday as a married man. This was going to be the best breakfast ever!

And so I put an extra special spin on the big birthday breakfast.  I cut the crust off several pieces of bread, buttered them and folded them into muffin cups, toasting them in the oven to create the most perfect golden brown nests for my yummy birthday eggs.

I proudly delivered this beautiful, special, ever so amazing breakfast to my new husband who looked at it and …

poked at it with his fork like he expected it to poke back, pushed at the toast cups as though he was a scientist who had just discovered a new species of poisonous reptile, and finally took what only by a large stretch of the imagination could be called a bite . He laid down his fork, told me that he loved me very much, but by no means should I ever try to cook breakfast again. Sigh.

This recipe may not be as glamorous as eggs stuffed into toast cups, but it definitely get a better reception at the dinner table, and apparently tastes a heck of a lot better!

Ingredients:

• 1  medium sized spaghetti squash
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1/2 cup diced orange pepper
• 1 pint of grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and cooked in water
• vegetable broth as needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375,  Cut squash in half, scrape out seeds and place facedown on a baking sheet.  Cook for 45 minutes or till tender.  Remove from oven and, using a fork, “scrape” the insides out to resemble strings of spaghetti.  If you are going to stuff the shells, leave about a 1/4 inch of squash in the shell.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the onion and peppers in a bit of oil in a fairly large pan about 5 minutes till they start to get tender( you are going to add the quinoa and squash to this pan to mix them all together, so don’t go too small unless you want to have to get another pan or bowl dirty).
3. Add the tomato halves and a good sprinkle of salt and sauté another few minutes till the tomatoes start to get soft.  Put in the garlic and Italian seasonings and sauté 30 seconds – 1 minute till fragrant.
4. Turn the heat down and add the cooked quinoa and squash and toss together with a set of tongs so you don’t make the squash mushy. Add a bit of broth if needed, but do it in small amounts as you don’t want to make it watery.
5. Stuff into the shells or place in bowl and serve immediately.

Enjoy!