An angelic dish

As promised in my previous column “Florentine it,” I am going to share another way to add vegetables to a picky eater’s diet. Use spaghetti squash instead of pasta. This substitution also helps reduce some carbohydrates. Spaghetti squash does still contain some carbs as it is considered a starchy vegetable. However, one cup of cooked spaghetti squash has just 40 calories and 10 grams of carbohydrate. Whereas, one cup of cooked spaghetti noodles has about 200 calories and 40 grams of carbohydrates.

Spaghetti squash is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, manganese, and vitamin B6.

Fiber also supports weight loss by slowing the emptying of your stomach and stabilizing your blood sugar levels to reduce hunger and appetite. (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/spaghetti-squash#weight-loss)

Aside from all the great nutrients spaghetti squash has, it has very little taste of its own. Like pasta, it will take on whatever flavor you prepare it with. I like to use the tomato basil soup recipe that was previously provided in the Saratoga Sun on 9/25/2019. The soup is thick enough to use as a sauce.

My picky eaters did notice a little difference in color, flavor or texture from regular pasta so I told them it was diet angel hair pasta, which did the trick. They ate it.

Diet Angel Hair Pasta

•Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

•Cut the spaghetti squash in half across the vegetable’s equator.

•Remove the seeds with a spoon.

•Place the squash halves cut side down onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper.

•Bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

When done, carefully flip squash over, there will be steam. Take a fork and pull the strands of “spaghetti” out of the rind. The strands of squash should separate easily and look similar to angel hair pasta.

Serve with your favorite sauce and enjoy!