Spaghetti Squash Boats

Ah, the season of squash. Spaghetti squash is one of my favorites since it's a vegetable disguised as a carb. One cup of it only has 40 calories and 10 carbs, and it's loaded with vitamins. What better way to dress it up than with sauce and cheese?

 

I love these "boats" since they're basically a one-dish meal with next to no cleanup. Just toss the shell when you're finished! They're also incredibly easy to make. Just bake off the squash, remove the seeds, "fork it" to get the strands to look like spaghetti, then mix in sauce, top of with cheese, and broil. You can even cook the squash ahead of time, then finish them with sauce and cheese the night you want to eat them. 

A simple green salad goes nicely on the side for some extra veggies, but I was actually quite full after eating my half of the squash last night so skipped the side dish.

Which I meant I had room for a few squares of dark chocolate later while watching Law & Order and working late on the laptop. :) Thumbs up for easy, no cleanup weeknight dinners!

Spaghetti Squash Boats

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 cup marinara sauce
4 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. pizza seasoning or dried oregano

Preheat oven to 375. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place cut side down on baking sheet, and bake for about one hour, until tender. Remove from oven, scoop out the seeds, and use a fork to pull all the strands from the sides of the squash until it resembles spaghetti.

For each half of the squash, add half the marinara suace, half the salt and half the pepper. Stir to combine. Then top each squash with half the shredded cheese and 1 tsp. of the dried herbs.

Return to the oven for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted. Broil for the final 2-3 minutes if you like the cheese bubbly and brown.