January has been all about Spaghetti Squash!
Who doesn't love a warm bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce on a
cold winter day?
Photo
Credit:
http://steamykitchen.com/11285-baked-spaghetti-squash-with-garlic-and-butter.html
A picture of
the delectable squash
Photo Credit:
http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/images/growing-spaghetti-squash.jpg
In the garden, squash grows on vines
This past
January, in each of our Living Lab programs our students cooked up some
spaghetti squash.
The three
objectives for our lessons were:
-learning how to cook a seasonal vegetable
-tasting a new and different type of vegetable
-trying and tasting a vegetable they will plant in the
spring
Believe
it or not, spaghetti squash is seasonal in the wintertime. Squash can be
planted in late spring, harvested in the fall and if stored in a cool dry
place, can store up to three months. When cooking with our students, we try to
choose a seasonal vegetable; it is important to teach them when vegetables are
ready in New Jersey.
Besides being a seasonal vegetable, spaghetti
squash is very healthy for you. The squash can be eaten like regular
pasta but has way fewer calories. A 1-cup serving of cooked spaghetti
squash has 42 calories, while 1 cup of cooked pasta has 221 calories. Spaghetti
squash also has more vitamin A and C and potassium than pasta. Switch
out regular pasta spaghetti for some spaghetti squash and you are eating
guilt-free vegetable pasta!
Photo
Credit: http://www.modernalternativekitchen.com/2013/08/roasted-spaghetti-squash-seeds/#.VN5qVebF8kk
Inside of
a spaghetti squash
Photo
Credit: http://www.homesteadanywhere.com/kitchen/how-to-cook-a-spaghetti-squash/
Scooping out,
the "spaghetti” of the spaghetti squash
Here is the recipe we used with our classes:
Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes
Ingredients:
1 cooked spaghetti
squash
1 medium onion,
chopped (1/2 cup)
1 green
pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 large garlic
clove, chopped
2 tablespoons olive
oil
4 tomatoes,
chopped (4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon dried
oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried
basil
Salt and
pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
cheese
Directions:
-Cut the Squash into 4 quarters and microwave the quarter
pieces of squash in the microwave for 4-6 minutes
-While the squash is cooking, sauté onion,
green pepper and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until tender (about 5
minutes)
-Stir in tomatoes, salt and pepper,
oregano and basil. Simmer together about 5 minutes more.
-Use a
spoon to remove the seeds from the squash and a fork to remove the strands of
spaghetti from the skin of the squash.
-Toss the
strands with butter and tomato mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Recipe
from: http://www.food.com/recipe/spaghetti-squash-with-tomatoes-410089
Photo Credit:
http://steamykitchen.com/19385-microwave-spaghetti-squash-with-tomatoes-and-basil.html
Picture of the
Finished Product
Kids
Reactions:
"Am
I really eating a vegetable? This is delicious!"
"I
do not know if I want any." Tries a tiny bit, ends up eating all of it and
then asks for seconds. (Priceless!)
"Can
we make squash every week?"
We will
be planting spaghetti squash in our school gardens this spring and next fall we
hope to have grown our very own spaghetti squashes. The students then will
have a lesson that has come full circle.
Go ahead,
grow your own squash or find one at your local grocery store and make
your own bowl of healthy spaghetti! Its kid approved!
Squash
nutrition facts from the following websites:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/541917-nutrition-of-spaghetti-squash-vs-pasta
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutrition-spaghetti-squash-vs-pasta-1817.html
http://www.newhealthguide.org/Spaghetti-Squash-Nutrition.html
