Been trying some new stuff at ya'lls suggestion -? About spaggetti squash

[JustAMom]

I riced some cauliflower! It was easy to rice it, but I could not get it to a point where I'd eat it as a rice substitute. The texture just never got to the done rice point for me? But I did not despair! I decided to use what was left to try some mashed "potatoes". And that was AWESOME and easy. Woohoo!

Today I tried some spaggetti squash. I cut it in half, removed seeds, layed rind side up on a cookie sheet and popped in over for 40 minutes at 375'. Came out perfect to my inexperienced tastes. Shredded the noodles into a sauce pan of ghee, minced garlic, cilantro, salt, and pepper and a dash of red peppers. Simmered until noodles absorbed the butter and were noodle tender. Added shrimp to final few minutes and plated. YUMMMMM! Very happy.

Now for my question...

Most of the time my oven is in use making my meat dishes. Would it be possible to bake the squash a day or two ahead to have on hand? If so, how would you do it? Go ahead and shred it, leave in gourd, rinse the starch off and freeze or???

One of the things that made the cauliflower easy was I riced it the day before and I can see doing it up to maybe 4 day before.

Thanks for encouraging me to give it a go!

[Susan W]

Riced cauli is never going to be like rice. Riced is a verb not a noun. To me, it is more like couscous if I had to compare it to anything. It also doesn't have much flavor so adding flavor is necessary IMO. Last night, my daughter came over for birthday dinner. I riced some cauli. Then it went into a pan with onions, mushrooms and garlic sauteed in ghee and added a little bone broth. On went the lid for about 4-5 minutes. When it was to my liking I seasoned with salt and pepper and added some pine nuts and dried cranberries. My daughter said "what is this..it tastes like Thanksgiving". Total win.

To answer your question, yes you can rice cauli and shred your spag squash ahead of time. I have bags of both in my freezer right now. :0)

[Jinkse21]

You can definitely make it ahead of time!  I like to make a few and store them for the week. I have never frozen spaghetti squash but I am pretty sure you can.

 

I love to make a Paleo bolognese to go over it...(review and link to recipe here -http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/9043-paleo-bolognese/?hl=bolognese).

[Jinkse21]

I agree with Susan...riced cauliflower reminds me more of cous cous as far as appearance and texture.  I like to sautee a bunch of diced veggies then add the riced cauliflower in the last 5 minutes.

[Boykinbaby]

If your microwave is big enough you can nuke the squash too. Just split it and clean like before and add maybe 1/4 cup of water in the cavity. Put the halves together, water inside, and put it in a lidded microwave safe dish. Cook 10 min and carefully remove from the microwave. To me, it doesn't tastevas good as baking, but it works great in a pinch, kinda like microwaving a sweet potato lol

[Tom Denham]

The last time I cut a spaghetti squash - http://www.wholelifeeating.com/2013/05/ground-chorizo-sausage-with-chopped-onion-and-marinara-sauce-over-spaghetti-squash/ - I cooked both halves the first day, but made spaghetti with just one half. I saved the second half in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The next day I heated it in the microwave and then made spaghetti with it. The second day was as good as the first.

[JustAMom]

That explains that then. I am not a fan of couscous or quinoa. The texture is just .. Ick.

Riced cauli is never going to be like rice. Riced is a verb not a noun. To me, it is more like couscous if I had to compare it to anything. It also doesn't have much flavor so adding flavor is necessary IMO. Last night, my daughter came over for birthday dinner. I riced some cauli. Then it went into a pan with onions, mushrooms and garlic sauteed in ghee and added a little bone broth. On went the lid for about 4-5 minutes. When it was to my liking I seasoned with salt and pepper and added some pine nuts and dried cranberries. My daughter said "what is this..it tastes like Thanksgiving". Total win.

To answer your question, yes you can rice cauli and shred your spag squash ahead of time. I have bags of both in my freezer right now. :0)

[JustAMom]

I don't own a microwave. No plans to ever own one.

But if it reheats okay in a microwave it should reheat in a skillet decently too I would think.

If your microwave is big enough you can nuke the squash too. Just split it and clean like before and add maybe 1/4 cup of water in the cavity. Put the halves together, water inside, and put it in a lidded microwave safe dish. Cook 10 min and carefully remove from the microwave. To me, it doesn't tastevas good as baking, but it works great in a pinch, kinda like microwaving a sweet potato lol

[Susan W]

Yes, both reheat in a skillet perfectly.

[bjjgrrl]

I have frozen spaghetti'ed spaghetti squash before, and it was fine when I defrosted it.

[SaraG]

I cook one every week. I carefully stab it a few times and cook it whole. I used to do it in microwave, 10--15 minutes depending on size, then turn it over and cook it about the same.

I prefer oven roasted now. Still keep it whole and I still puncture it. Bake it for about an hour at 350. I use a glass pie pan either way.

Let cool before cutting, seed removing, and shredding. Store in glass container. I use throughout the week and consider it a staple.

[carolinaBlue]

You can cook spaghetti squash in the slow cooker:

 

To cook it whole - Use a fork to poke some holes in the squash & put it in the slow cooker with 2 cups of water. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Let it cool a bit & cut it open.

 

Or you can cut it in half & scoop out the seeds, then place both halves in the slow cooker face down. Cook on low for about 5 hours or on high for about 3 hours.

[Physibeth]

I just put mine whole in the slow cooker, no holes and no water. Susan taught me. Comes out great when I have the presence of mind to not let it sit on the warm cycle for too long.