Healthy Korean Beef Spaghetti Squash Bowl

12/08/2016

I adore spaghetti squash, so much so that I planted one in our garden this year. It was phenomenal; it overtook almost half of my garden and yielded about six squash. After tonight’s meal, I have one remaining from our harvest.

Spaghetti squash is awesome for so many reasons. It’s great to have on hand as a replacement for pasta and an option for our gluten-sensitive and allergic friends and family. I’ve rounded up some of my favourite spaghetti squash recipes in a previous blog post, but tonight’s recipe is the tastiest, hands-down. The recipe tonight was inspired by this recipe. I tweaked the sauce recipe from this awesome recipe for Slow Cooker Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps.

Ingredients

1 whole spaghetti squash

1/2 lb – 1lb of beef stir fry meat or flank stank, cut into small bite-sized pieces

1/2 cucumber, chopped

lettuce, chopped

3-4 green onions, chopped

sesame seeds

For the sauce

¼ cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or soya sauce

¼ cup honey

¼ cup coconut sugar

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 – 2 tbsp chili sauce* I used two tbsp and it was quite spicy

1 tsp garlic powder

Direction

Preheat oven to 400. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and place halves facedown on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the squash. If you undercook it, you’ll have a tough time getting the strands out. If you overcook it, it will be way too mushy.

Meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Cut your vegetables and set aside.

Warm a drizzle of toasted sesame oil over medium heat on the stove and add your beef. Once the beef is cooked through, add the sauce. Simmer for a few minutes. If you heat the sauce for too long, it will start to caramelize. If you want liquid sauce, don’t heat it for too long.

Once the squash is out of the oven, turn the halves over and let them cool for a few minutes. Then, using an oven mitt and a fork, scrape the strands of spaghetti into a medium-sized bowl.

Fix your bowl by combining the spaghetti squash, beef, vegetables, and sesame seeds. You could also add feta. I would highly recommend letting the spaghetti squash and beef cool completely before serving. It tastes better when the lettuce and other vegetables aren’t warm.