Believe it or not, the Mr. and I still have about a dozen lil’ spaghetti squashes left over from the 2008 gardening season. All lined up on the work table in our garage, there they sit, patiently waiting their turn in an inspired vegan recipe. Alas, having exhausted all of the obvious possibilities, we’re kind of sick of spaghetti squash for the time being. There just aren’t many spaghetti squash recipes out there, yo!

That is, until yesterday, when I recalled this recipe for baked zucchini chips. “Could that possibly work with spaghetti squash strands?” I wondered. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a whirl; after all, even if I didn’t like the result, I have five hungry, indiscriminate dogs who would.

So I baked the spaghetti squash using the usual method, and then scraped the strands from the rind, spread them out on greased cookie sheets, and then baked ‘em a second time.

The dried spaghetti squash strands were delish, but not very filling – with most of the moisture evaporated, there really isn’t much left in spaghetti squash! One smallish medium squash yielded a small, single serving, when all was said and done. It sure makes a yummy side dish or snack – and is a great way to use up any leftover squash you might still have laying around, sitting, staring, accusing, mocking your utter lack of culinary creativity.

Twice-Baked Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
Pam or similar cooking spray
Salt to taste

Directions

1. Slice your spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Using a large spoon, scrape out the insides, i.e., the stringy mass in the middle. You can save the seeds to roast later, if you’d like.

2. Once the two halves are “clean,” place them in a large glass baking dish, rind-side up. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. When done, remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes or so.

3. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam or a similar cooking spray.

4. Place one of your squash halves on the cookie sheet, rind-side down. Grab a fork and scrape the prongs of the fork through the flesh; the flesh should fall away from the rind, in a string- or strand-like formation. Keep scraping until the rind is rather bare. Repeat with the other half of the squash.

5. Spread the strands out on the cookie sheet as much as possible. If needed, use a second cookie sheet. Sprinkle on some salt to taste.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the squash, stirring and turning the strands every 5 minutes or so. A few dark or burned strands add a bit of flavor, but try not to torch all your squash!

7. If you’re feeling daring, keep going: I had hoped to bake the “spaghetti” until it git crunchy, almost like a snack chip, but I lost my nerve.

You feeling lucky, vegan?

(Crossposted from.)

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Tagged: recipe recipes vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism vegetable squash spaghetti squash twice baked spaghetti squash snack side dish flickr photos

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 8:41 pm and is filed under garden of vegan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.