I tend to get into ruts when I discover a new ingredient.  Lately, I’m all about cooking with spaghetti squash.  It is so easy and so delicious! It’s just an added bonus that this mysterious vegetable can masquerade as one of the ultimate comfort foods: pasta.  While it’s not an invisible substitution in that I don’t forget that I’m not eating pasta, what is amazing is that I don’t miss it.  The spaghetti squash has such a creamy consistency that it complements all of those usual pasta dishes seamlessly.

Most of the recipes I’ve tried so far have instructed to roast the squash in the oven, but I discovered a short cut that involves one of my favorite kitchen gadgets: the crock pot.  That’s right – you can cook spaghetti squash in the crock pot in about 2 hours. It requires no water or seasoning. Amazing!  Seriously, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s anything the crock pot can’t do.  (So far, I haven’t found a way for it to do my dishes; anyone? 😛 )

The peanut sauce in this recipe was also easy.  Just dump all the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat.  I think I would have liked the sauce to be a little thicker, but it still had a lot of flavor and even a little hidden curry spice that added a nice complexity.

Thai Spaghetti Squash

(Adapted from Leelalicious)

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

2 TBS chopped peanuts

Sauce

1 can coconut milk

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 TBS red curry paste

2 TBS soy sauce (I like Bragg Liquid Aminos)

2 TBS sesame oil

Instructions

Cut spaghetti squash in half, remove seeds, and place in crock pot cut sides down.  Cook on high for about 2 hours.  One cooked, shred the meat of the squash with a fork.

In a small saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 5 minutes.

In a sauté pan over medium heat, combine garlic, cilantro and about 1/2 cup of the peanut sauce.  Once bubbling, add the squash and peanuts and stir to combine.

Serve with additional sauce.

Thai Spaghetti Squash

Bon Appétit!