I love making all the different types of squash in the fall, and this week I meal prepped a spaghetti squash! It is so fun to cook these because they look solid until they are cooked, and then when you brush the inside with a fork, it turns into little spaghetti tendrils! For a great plant-based meal, I made a cheese-like sauce from baba ganouj and nutritional yeast, and added in veggies and tempeh.
If you haven’t tried nutritional yeast before, it has a cheesy and nutty flavor. It has a lot of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and even some protein - so you can see how it gets its name! I got it at Trader Joe’s and it is quite inexpensive. I was weirded out by it when I first heard of it, because eating yeast plain seemed odd to me, but then one of my friends kept telling me how tasty it was so I finally tried and now I like to sprinkle it on lots of food!
Similarly, I used to dislike eggplant, but now I like it and love baba ganouj as well! I remember when I was little, my mom would always tell me that my tastes would change as I grew up, but I didn’t believe her and was adamant that I would never like mustard...and now I like that too! Just goes to show that moms know what they are talking about!
Anyways, here is how to make this dish. You could really add any veggies you like to it!
Ingredients (one serving)
Cooked spaghetti squash (about ⅓ to ½ cup)
2 tbsp baba ganouj
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Dash of turmeric
Dash of black pepper
Veggies of choice - I added spinach, sauteed onions, carrots, sundried tomatoes, and green peas
Cooked tempeh (or other protein of choice)
Steps
To cook the spaghetti squash - cut it in half (this is the hardest part - be careful!), scoop out the seeds, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook at 400 F for 30-40 minutes until the squash is soft and easily shreds into tendrils when scraped with a fork.
To cook the tempeh - I air fried it with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, turmeric, and a bit of basil.
Mix the nutritional yeast and baba ganoush together, then stir in with the spaghetti squash. If you want a thinner sauce, you could add some milk to thin it out, but I personally liked the thick texture!
Mix in vegetables and tempeh, and enjoy!
Side note: I did see online that nutritional yeast can cause some headaches or other side effects in certain people depending on your metabolic enzymes (interestingly, something I just learned about in medical school!), so maybe look into that if you have any conditions that might affect your metabolism or digestion of nutritional yeast. Just letting you know in case you decide to try it, because I don't want anyone to get sick because of something I recommended!
Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free
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