Squash calories and carbs
Replace pasta with seasonal spaghetti squash
Kate Morin, beat blogger
There are few better comfort foods than a hearty bowl of pasta, with some sort of thick sauce and fresh grated cheese on top. But more often than not that bowl of pasta is packed with unnecessary calories and carbs.
A great alternative to carb-heavy pasta is spaghetti squash. This is a variety of winter squash that is usually deep yellow or light orange in color. When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to the flesh of other types of squash. However, after it is cooked, the flesh easily breaks up into small strands that resemble spaghetti, hence its name.
While a bowl of traditional spaghetti and meatballs can set you back between 700 and 1200 calories, a bowl of spaghetti squash with meat sauce is much healthier at about 300-450 calories. Here is a recipe for spaghetti squash with meat sauce that is just as comforting as a bowl of traditional pasta, but will save you a few hundred calories:
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Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce — serves 2-3
Ingredients
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 lb. Ground turkey
1 jar tomato sauce or home made sauce
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
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Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Halve squash lengthwise and remove the seeds.
3. Brush or drizzle the cut sides with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake, cut-side down on a baking sheet until tender, about 1 hour.
5. While the squash is baking, brown the turkey meat in a pan. Heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan.
6. Saute the meat until brown. Drain any excess fat.
7. Add about 2 cups of your favorite basic jarred tomato sauce or homemade tomato sauce. Let simmer.
8. Hold the squash in a towel and, using a fork, gently pull at the flesh and place the spaghetti-like strands in a dish.
9. Add the squash to the saucepan, and heat through.
10. Serve topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, and enjoy!
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