Lemon Caper Spaghetti Squash
1 small spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
2 tablespoons drained capers
1/4 cup zucchini, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
4 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup tomatoes, canned or fresh, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Rub the inside well with the olive oil. Put the squash cut side down on a pan (cookie or pizza, whatever you have) and cover with foil. You don't have to make a tight seal but you don't want it too loose.
2. Bake the squash until the squash is done and can be easily scrapped out with a fork. It took about 30 minutes in my oven. Scrape out the spaghetti strings and put them aside where they'll stay warm.
3. Melt the margarine in a large pan or cast iron pot and add the zucchini, bell pepper and capers, cooking them until they're tender. Stir in the lemon juice, parsley and season with salt and pepper.
4. Taste the sauce to see if it's seasoned properly, then mix in the squash and tomatoes.
I pan fried floured tofu slices to serve with this and it was excellent.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I just made this for dinner and received rave reviews from my father, who is staunchly anti-vegan AND anti-squash...so I'd say that it was a success!
I didn't use margarine, just a little olive oil, and added LOTS more vegetables (carrots, broccoli, celery, and there may have been some other things as well)
This is so adaptable, and wonderful. I've never had spaghetti squash before, and I am now a HUGE fan.
Mmmmmm! I started this with sauteed onion and garlic, then added the rest of the sauce ingredients along with a little cayenne (I like it spiiiicy). Everything else I did the same, just added a bit of nutritional yeast to serve. Soooo tasty-- will definitely make this again!
Delicious! Very reminiscent of chicken piccata (sans the chicken ;) ) Very yummy and flavorful, and easy to boot!
My mom used to make a tofu piccata dish when I was a kid that was similar to this dish. i adore the lemon-caper combo. I'll have to make the tofu dish again as well.
Excellent recipe and easy to make too!
I didn't have capers at the time and wanted to find a substitute, so I thought I would share what I found in case anyone else wants to try this awesome recipe and isn't left out because they don't have capers. The two substitutes (although there is no real substitute) I found seem to be the prevailing opinion on what to use and it worked for me:
1. chopped green olives
2. chopped dill pickle
or a mixture of the two I guess if you wanted.
Anyway I hope that helps someone else.. this is a recipe you don't want to pass up!
When I cooked the squash, the stands turned out too crispy so I had to steam them a few minutes. But this turned out great! I will definately cook it again.
If you're a person who likes the microwave, it's a good way to fix spaghetti squash - cut in half, place face down in glass dish with a little water in the bottom, and microwave till a fork dragged thru the interior will separate nice strands - it's quicker than the regular oven for those of us with less patience.
Our family has always loved spaghetti squash. In my experience the best way to cook it is to boil it in water until it's tender enough to scrap...usually 40+ minutes. It works great. We're trying this recipe tonight. It sounds delicious.
This was a great tasting recipe and it looks pretty too! Thanks!
I roasted half of a large spagetti squash, cut side down, in a casserole dish with a 1/2 inch of water at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Usually I would have gone longer which ends up with easy to separate, watery "noodles." This time it took a bit of work with a fork, but I really enjoyed the crisp flavor and "al dente" texture.
Very tasty and easy to make, will definitely eat again in the future!
Fantastic recipe
I have never cooked with a spaghetti squash before, here are the lessons I learned,
It is hard to cut
The squash needs to be fork tender n order to shred/spaghetti/deshell properly, the first time I tried it was not tender & it had already cooked 40min, so I started to shred but it was slow goin. So I let the other half cook for 15 min more & it practically shredded itself & fell out of the shell!
I prepared this dish slightly different
I made the sauce raw & did not cook anything other than the squash & some eggplant I topped the dish with.
I also added some raw pine nuts & served the dish room temp (it was not burning my fingers trying to deshell the squash hot!)
It was so good & I will be making this & other spaghetti squash dishes again ;)
Delicious! Very reminiscent of chicken piccata (sans the chicken ;) ) Very yummy and flavorful, and easy to boot!
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