Avocado Spaghetti Squash

I found this recipe for Avocado Pasta from Damn Delicous.

And let me tell you, it was DAMN. Delicious.

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a majestical fucking unicorn in her natural habitat

I used to be obsessed with carbs. Pasta, rice, bread, potatoes; you name it, I ate it. And that’s how Karen got fat. Since having weight loss surgery, I still eat small amounts of real pasta from time to time, though surprisingly, I don’t miss it all that much! Prior to surgery I thought I’d be craving pasta and bread like crazy… but honestly its a nice treat now and again. When I DO eat it, it fills me up much quicker than anything else and it usually weighs very heavily in my stomach.

Don’t get it twisted, now. I’m still obsessed with carbs. I’m just… a little more aware of the impact they have on my body.

So here we have it, my favourite pasta substitute; spaghetti squash.

 

Now, please forgive my lack of food photography skills… as.. Well. We have none. Ryan was kind enough to snap some photos as I was cooking.. But we honestly have very little idea of what we are doing.

But, just like everything else, it’ll be a learning experience! YAY FOR NEW THINGS.

For this recipe you will need:

  • 1 medium sized spaghetti squash (with seasoning to taste; I used olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder and red pepper flakes)
  • Protein of choice (I used leftover chicken breast from the day before)
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2T lemon juice
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup fresh basil leaves
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • ½ can yellow corn*
  • Halved cherry tomatoes*

*these were part of the original recipe, but I omitted them.

To prepare:

  1. Poke a few holes in the spaghetti squash and nuke in the microwave for around 5 minutes or so and let it cool slightly; it makes it much easier to cut in half..
  2. Cut that sucker in half and scoop out its guts.
  3. Drizzle with olive oil and seasonings of choice. Spaghetti squash is pretty bland on its own, so be generous with your flavouring.
  4. Place on a baking sheet or in a 9×13 pan with a little bit of water (just enough to cover the bottom) and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes.
  5. When it’s out of the oven, take a fork and shred the “meat” off the skin and you’ll have a load of spaghetti!

 

While your squash is cooking, you can prepare the avocado sauce. All you have left to do is take the remaining ingredients (except the chicken or other protein) and blend it up in a food processor until smooth and creamy.

 

Once everything is done, add your protein if you want it, plate it up and enjoy!

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I hope my photography skills get better with practice…

When I put my ingredients into MyFitnessPal for the avocado sauce it came out to around 75 calories per 2T. It’s a bit of an estimate, as I don’t know precisely how many servings there really were, but it’s a pretty close idea.

for the sauce; per ~2T
Cal: 74
Fat: 7.7g
Carbs: 1.8g
Protein: 0.4g

for the squash; per 1/4 cup
Cal: 10
Fat: 0.1g
Carbs: 2.5g

Protein: 0.2g

I try really hard to get you an accurate depiction of nutrition facts but my calculations are done by using the particular brands/ingredients I prefer; please make sure that any substitutions you may use are taken into consideration when you make these recipes for yourself. MyFitnessPal is a great tool to create different, unique foods and calculate nutritional information… USE IT! (:

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