Faux Spaghetti

Fruits and vegetables provide such vibrant colours in meals that it is really is quite easy to eat a rainbow.  Who can resist the tantalize yellow of fresh sweet corn with a bit of creamy yellow butter or the beautiful ruby red of fresh strawberries?  Even the plain old potato is not so plain when it comes to colour with the crispy golden brown skin of an oven baked potato playing against the creamy white flesh.  Squashes range in colour from creamy white with a deep green or yellow skin left on for cooking (eg. summer squash) to a deep, rusty orange with other shades of yellow and orange in between.  The darker orange the colour is, the more beta carotene the squash contains.

I love playing with the colours of fruits and vegetables, bringing life and vibrance to the plate.  Squash is the ideal way to add those splashes of orange.  Spaghetti squash has a wonderful medium toned yellowish orange colour.  It can be served much the same way regular spaghetti is served.  I baked the squash then plated the strands topping them with steamed baby spinach and homemade roasted Italian sauce with mushrooms.  I garnished with chopped red onion and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.  I found the spaghetti squash wept a bit more than I would have liked but some of the excess liquid could have been from the steamed spinach as well.  This excess liquid affected the appearance only and I'm sure it is something easily remedied.  It was a cheery, tasty and delicious low calorie meal.  Not only is this meal low calorie it also comes under the category of vegetarian.