Meatless Monday....Spicy Spaghetti Squash with Black Beans

There are no vegetarians in my house.  I'm pretty sure there are no vegetarians in my family.  Yup.....only meatetarians here.  That being said, other than hubs little sweet tooth issue, we eat fairly healthy.  Generally a lot of fish and chicken and fresh veggies.  But after last week's little overindulgence at Blackberry Farm, we definitely needed a little detox up in here.

Hubs loved this and so did I.  I follow Whole Foods on Twitter and they tweeted this recipe a few weeks ago.  I admit, I did tweak it a tiny bit for our tastes because it's one of those recipes that lends itself to creativity.  I added a few more spices and some mushrooms to give it a little heft!  Feel free to put your own spin on it.  We ate this as our meal but this would also be great served as a side dish.  And if you're like me and craving some meat, you could totally add in some chicken, sausage or even shrimp.  Yum!

(My changes are in red)

Spicy Spaghetti Squash with Black Beans

Whole Foods

Serves 4
Serve these stuffed squash halves immediately or fill with the stuffing and refrigerate them, covered, one day in advance. Simply reheat them before serving.

Ingredients
1 medium spaghetti squash

Filling
2 teaspoons olive or corn oil
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 jalapeño chili, seeded, minced
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped  (I didn't have one so I subbed chopped Shiitake and Portabello shrooms)
1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained well
1/2 cup sweet corn, frozen or fresh
1 teaspoon chili powder (I used ancho chili powder and also added a heaping tsp. ground cumin and some red pepper flakes)
All of the reserved cooked squash, about 4 cups
1/3 cup cilantro, minced
1/3 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
Roast squash in a 375°F oven for 50 minutes until tender or cut squash in half and place in a microwave dish with 1/2 inch of water, lightly covered with plastic wrap for 20 minutes on high until tender. cool. When cool, scoop flesh from squash halves leaving the shell intact for stuffing.  (I prefer to roast the squash in the oven vs. the microwave method, but both work find.  I slice the squash in have and place it cut side down on a sheet pan and roast until tender.  I then scoop out the seeds and shred the squash with a fork)

For the filling, heat oil in a large pan and sauté red onion, jalapeño chili and red pepper for 2 minutes. Add beans, corn and chili powder; sauté 1 minute longer. Add cooked squash, cilantro, lime juice and salt, cook 1 minute until heated through.

Fill squash halves with filling, mounding mixture in the center.  Sprinkle with cheese and return to the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.


On a completely unrelated note, we headed to Tuscaloosa Saturday to tailgate before "The Game of the Century" {cough, cough}.  We had a great time partying with everyone pre-game, but if I ever hear another arrogant SEC fan say Big 10 football is boring I'm gonna have to slap them.  We've been playing smash mouth, defensive football for years and getting criticized for it because it's not exciting, but when the SEC does it, it's suddenly awe inspiring.  Whatever.  (Oh and Nick, you may want to check your local high school's soccer teams and find yourself a kicker.  Just sayin.)

Anyhoooo.  Like I said, tailgating was a blast.  Since we're Tuscaloosa rookies, we went down with a few seasoned Bama graduates and fans.  Yes, they're our friends.  We love them in spite of their poor choice in football teams!

There was lot's of houndstooth.....lots and lots of houndstooth.  I'm thinking the little one preferred some Scarlet and Grey!

And lot's of bizarre!

And because the party started well before noon for a 7:00pm game, there's was also lots of this.  This may be the only area that I'll acknowledge that SEC might have something over on the Big 10.....FOOD!

I will offer my condolences to my Alabama friends for not coming out on top in the game because if there's any team I like less than Alabama and Auburn, it would be LSU!!

Thanks to Chad and Jenny for showing us around your alma mater and as always we had a fabulous time!