Spaghetti Squash Boats

A unique way to serve this delicious dish.
You can find many great recipes in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.









Spaghetti Squash Boats
Ingredients:
2 ripe spaghetti squash
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. ground hot turkey sausage
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes
1/4 cup half and half
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup part skim Mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided or Laughing Cow wedges
2 Tbsp basil, thinly sliced

Directions:
To make the spaghetti squash, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cut squash right down the middle. Scoop out all the seeds and place cut side down on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with oil. DO NOT PIERCE WITH A FORK!! Many recipes say to do this, but we are using these cuts of squash later as bowls so you want them to remain intact.
Bake squash in the oven for 45 minutes until tender.
Drizzle oil into a large skillet and saute onion and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add turkey sausage and cook until crumbled and lightly brown, draining if necessary, then add chicken broth, tomatoes, half and half, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
Bring everything to a boil then cover and allow flavors to simmer on low to medium heat until spaghetti squash is ready.
Remove squash from the oven and scrape out all the strands of spaghetti using a fork.
Add all the spaghetti squash to your skillet along with a 1/4 cup of cheese. Toss well until cheese is melted and squash is fully coated with sauce.
Transfer squash mixture into your now scraped out squash bowls and top with the rest of your cheese.
Place them back in the oven for about 3 to 4 minutes until cheese is melted and squash is heated through.
Top with basil, serve and enjoy!

Thanks to eat-yourself-skinny.com for the recipe.

Spinach and Mozarella Cheese Appetizer

Spinach and Mozarella Cheese Appetizer

Sometimes we get very unusual recipes from recipe exchanges. Anyone ever try something like this one?

Blanch a bunch of spinach (just dunk in boiling water for about 30 seconds). Cut a large ball of fresh mozzarella into thirds or quarters and wrap the pieces all over with the spinach leaves. Grill until the cheese is soft (or you can stick them in a hot oven also).

Serve with a salsa made with chopped prosciutto, capers, parsley, a little balsamic vinegar, some olive oil. You can add roasted peppers, too - delicious.

Lots of appetizer recipes and wonderful stories of early Arizona in Tastes & Treasures cookbook too.

Caprese Corn Salad

A pretty side dish with cheese and corn - my favorite foods all in one recipe. Oh My.

Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 ear corn, husked and cleaned
8 ounces tomatoes or 1/2 pint grape tomatoes or 1 chopped tomato (drain the excess water after chopping)
3 ounces fresh mozarella (we used shredded)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions: You can boil the corn cob but we love the extra flavors when it is grilled. Scrape corn kernels into a medium bowl.
Cut tomatoes, drain and add to bowl.
Cut cheese into dice a little larger than corn kernels (or use shredded cheese). Add to bowl.
Toss with oil and basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes 2 servings.

Note: Grilling corn brings out such nice flavors. The recipe for grilling vegetables is on page 100 Tastes & Treasures cookbook. Lon's at Hermosa Inn share easy instructions for Grilled Fennel. It works for most vegetables.

White Pizza

White Pizza makes a very impressive presentation when topped with fresh sliced tomatoes and basil. And basil is so healthy, full of Vitamin K.

Ingredients:

1 large low-fat, high-fiber, burrito-size tortilla (about 100 calories)
1/3 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1 tbsp shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt
Dash black pepper
4 thin slices plum tomato
4 fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put tortilla on a baking sheet sprayed lightly with nonstick spray. Bake in the oven until slightly crispy, 3 - 5 minutes per side. Leave oven on.

In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese with mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add onion and, stirring occasionally, cook until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Immediately stir onion into cheese mixture. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

Spread cheese-onion mixture evenly on top of the tortilla. Top with tomato slices and basil leaves. If you like, sprinkle with a dash of salt.

Return pizza to oven and bake until hot, about 5 minutes.

Makes 1 serving.

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 200 calories, 3.25g fat, 930mg sodium, 33g carbs, 7g fiber, 7g sugars, 17g protein

Embellishing Spinach Mushroom Florentine

Substituting ingredients in recipes is something I enjoy doing. The original Spinach Mushroom Florentine is great, page 190 in Tastes & Treasures, but with added cooked and chopped bacon and low fat mozzarella cheese, it became a meal.

Spinach Mushroom Florentine pg 190 Tastes & Treasures

1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen choppen spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
Garlic powder to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Saute the mushrooms in a non stick skillet until tender. Cool slightly. Press the excess moisture from the spinach. Combine the spinach, onion, butter, 1/2 cup of the cheese and the salt in a bowl and mix well. Spoon half the spinach mixture into a buttered 9 X 13 inch baking dish and top with half the mushrooms. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Top with the remaining spinach mixture, remaining mushrooms and garlic powder. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Serves 6 to 8.

Note: We used lots of fresh spinach and it was so-o-o yummy.
Did not need to butter the dish.
Sauteing mushrooms in Monterey Steak Seasoning makes them very tasty.