So, tonight I took a nice little break from grad school world to watch the finale of one of my favorite shows, How I Met Your Mother, which I have been watching almost since the beginning (I think I started watching it a season after it started!). It was emotional, to say the least, and so I sat there on the couch with a nice big glass of Cab and a box of tissues…

But! Just before it started I made probably one of my favorite meals (I’ve recently decided. Aside from smashed cauliflower and steak, that’s definitely up there…) – spaghetti squash spaghetti and arugula salad!

What I love about spaghetti squash is that it’s super easy to make and it really does fill that carby-I-want-pasta feeling without the guilt of eating a big bowl of spagetti!

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti:

• Buy 1 spaghetti squash, size depending on how much you want. I bought one that was ~2 lbs which is enough for 4 moderate servings (but I had two helpings tonight and let my roommate have a little, so I have a little over one helping left over!) Cut it in half lengthwise.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Scoop out the seeds, toss em in the garbage
• Brush olive oil on the inside of the squash (the part you just hollowed out) and add a little salt and black pepper.
• Put two halves on a baking sheet (I put parchment paper down) hollowed out side facing up. When you’re taking them in/out of the oven, be careful they don’t roll right off the baking tray!
• Cook for 30-40 minutes, take out of the oven, and let cool until your patience runs out for 15 minutes.
• Take a fork, scrape the flesh of the squash and get ready to have your mind blown. Literally, it just magically falls into spaghetti from the fork. I can’t even properly prepare you for how magical this experience is.
• Throw a tsp of olive oil and two cloves of diced garlic in a big saute pan. Brown the garlic a little – put the “spaghetti” in the pan, toss it around the oil and garlic, heat it up take it out before it gets too crunchy.
• Serve with a little bit of Parmesan cheese!

And, this recipe was 100% Melissa constructed. No inspiration except the growling of my stomach (and a spaghetti squash presented to me by you, my dear sweet Mother!). And now for the salad!

Sweet Arugula Salad:

• Mom, you won’t like this because it’s got candied walnuts and mostly sweet tastes, but you could sub out any other kind of nut here, and that would work just as well.
• Fresh arugula
• 1 strawberry, sliced thin (or at least as thin as you can make it)
• small handful of candied pecans
• goat cheese
• And I’m not a dressing gal, so I just use 1/2 tsp olive oil. The thing about dressing is, it’s pretty fattening, and I try to make salads that have enough flavor that a fancy dressing isn’t necessary. I would normally also put a little balsamic red wine vinegar but HIMYM was about to start, so I was rushing to take pictures, pour wine, and plant on the couch.

Well, now that I’ve procrastinate a healthy amount tonight, I’m going to work on my presentation on Exceeding the Carnot limit with a squeezed thermal bath! Woo. Hoo.