Baked Spaghetti Squash with Guyere and Parsley

I never tried Spaghetti Squash until I was in my 30's. I had no recipe, and just tried it with spaghetti sauce the first time. I took to it immediately! My number one complaint against most squash is it's mushiness. Once you scoop out the seeds (save them for roasting!) and such, you drag a fork along the inside skin, and spaghetti-like strands emerge. But even better than spaghetti, the squash has a bit of a crunch, which I love.

Then I discovered this recipe, and that was it! No more red sauce on this wonderful vegetable! My 11-year old daughter likes it so much that she specifically requested it for Thanksgiving last year.

This is a simple recipe, and you can roast the squash in advance. Serve it any time you want to impress someone - it's impressive! It must be the cheese...


Baked Spaghetti Squash with Guyere and Parsley

1 spaghetti squash, about 3 lbs, punctured
1 cup Guyere cheese, grated
3 to 4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup parsley, chopped with 1 garlic clove
Salt and freshly milled pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the squash until the flish is yielding and soft, an hour or more. Cool. Slice the squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Now drag a fork through the flesh, pulling the strands apart. Tos them with the parsley, cheese, and butter. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Serves 4

From this cookbook - click it to find out more.

10 Top Restaurant Trends

I thought this was interesting:

1. Bite-sized desserts (yes, like at PF Chang's)
2. Locally grown produce
3. Organic produce
4. Small plates - tapas/mezze
5. Specialty sandwiches (not sure what this means)
6. Craft/artisan or microbrew beer (I don't think this is new)
7. Sustainable seafood (what?)
8. Grass-fed items (like beef?)
9. Energy drink cocktails (like Red Bull and vodka?)
10. Specialty salts (haven't seen this yet)

Source: National Restaurant Association: What's Hot and What's Not Survey, Oct 2007

There have been several books out lately advocating locally grown and organic foods, so it makes sense that restaurants are incorporating recent trends. Any others that you've noticed?

Macaroni Salad

I was excited when I came across Emeril's recipe for Macaroni salad, because I'm eager to find alternatives to the pickle/onion/Miracle Whip concoction I usually make. Although it is delicious in it's own way, it doesn't seem very nutritious.

Because I love vegetables, I can't resist giveaways from other people's gardens. I love the variety of colors here. So of course I had to add them to my newest pasta salad. (Except for the short red one, which I determined to be a jalapeno.)

Also, I'm not big on prosciutto, so from the beginning I planned to use bacon, which the hubby always keeps on hand. I took a suggestion to use basil instead of parsley, and I ran out of olive oil, but I thought it turned out great! I agree that the creamy texture of the melted goat cheese is a great substitute for mayonnaise. This is what I ended up using:

New Mac Salad

1 lb elbow macaroni
2 oz bacon, cut into strips
2 small cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, chopped
3 small assorted peppers, chopped
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
2 Tbsp capers
1/4 chopped fresh basil

Fry bacon in a small pan. Heat water to boil the macaroni.

Mix the garlic, vinegar, and Dijon in a small bowl. Add the oil in a stream while whisking the vinegar mixture. Chop all the vegetables and add to a big bowl with the crumbled cheese, olives, basil and capers. Add the dressing and toss.

Cook the macaroni as instructed on the package. Cook until al dente. Drain and immediately toss in with the vegetables and toss until the goat cheese has coated the noodles. Watch out for lumps of goat cheese with vegetables or garlic, and separate those.

Add the bacon, then salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy! The crunchy and salty elements of the salad are quite enjoyable.

(I'd say that this salad is very good, but could use a few more tomatos and more basil. Or serve it over butter lettuce. The veggie to macaroni ratio was a little off. Also, the shallot would have been milder and better in this case than garlic.)

A funny thing happened after I made the salad. I sat down and ate a bowl with my daughter, and then she asked if she could have some bacon. I forgot to add the bacon! Of course, it was better with bacon, but not too bad without it.


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Emeril's Macaroni Salad

1 lb elbow macaroni
2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into strips
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pitted Cerignola olives (or your favoriteolives), chopped
2 Tbsp capers
1/4 chopped fresh parsley

Directions
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook macaroni until al dente. In a small skillet, cook prosciutto over medium until crisp; discard fat.

Combine shallot, vinegar, and mustard in a large bowl; whisk in oil in a slow, steady stream. Add tomato, cheese, prosciutto, olives, and capers.

Drain pasta; add to bowl with tomato mixture, and toss. Add parsley; season with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature, and serve.

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Macaroni Salad (Old recipe)

1 lb package of elbow macaroni
1 cup onion, choppped
1 cup pickles chopped
2 Tbsp Miracle Whip
2 pinches sugar
splash of milk

Cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain and cool.

Add to a bowl with chopped pickles and onions, to taste. Mix the Miracle Whip, sugar, and milk in a small bowl. Add to the macaroni mixture and toss.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Not THAT kind of Mexican Cheese!

I was thinking of trying a few new recipes (Including Chile Relleno Casserole) this weekend, so I sent my DH to the grocery store, looking for Mexican cheese and unsweetened Cocoa.

Poor guy. I'm pretty sure I told him that the cocoa would be in the baking section, but I guess he didn't hear me. Instead, he searched high and low in the hot chocolate section until he did, indeed, find packets of unsweetened hot cocoa! (Why would anyone make such a thing?)

Then I went to make the casserole, which called for Mexcan, or Cotija, cheese. I see it in the stores all the time in the cheese section. When I went to pull the cheese out of the refrigerator, I couldn't find it! So I asked DH to find it, and he pulled a bag of pre-shredded jack/cheddar mix, labeled "Mexican Style."

"Oh!" I remarked, "I didn't mean THIS kind of Mexican cheese!"

He responded with, "Well, it says right there that it's Mexican cheese."

And he was right. So I used it in the recipe, left out the chorizo (which I don't like), and it turned out great. I know 12 sounds like a lot of eggs, and I was tempted to try it with fewer, but it turned out just right! Just like the picture in the magazine.

I think the key is to pick a large chile pepper (which are not usually very hot), and plan for about one chile pepper per serving. Don't pick too deep of a baking dish, as you'll want to see the peppers to find the servings.

Yum!

Chile Relleno Casserole

Ingredients

8 green chiles
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves
12 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded jack cheese or cheddar cheese

Preparation

1. Roast chiles until blistered and somewhat charred, and put into a closed paper bag to "sweat". After all peppers are roasted and have rested at least 15 minutes, remove from bag and peel. (Don't worry if you can't get all the skin off. It won't hurt you.)

2. Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, mix cheese and spices. Stuff chiles with mixture and lay them in an 8- by 12-in. baking dish.

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs , then whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle chiles with 1/2 the jack cheese. Pour egg mixture over chiles and sprinkle with remaining jack.

4. Bake until top starts to brown and the eggs are set but still soft, about 30 minutes.

Adapted from Sunset Magazine, March 2008