Spaghetti Squash- Asian Style

It's soooooo cold outside- forecast for the weekend is -30 with the windchill, so what better way to warm up than with a steamy bowl of Asian inspired, nutritious and tasty Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry.

As you know, I have been trying to add more vegetables to our dinner table, and let me tell you... I think I finally found a way to enjoy this stringy squash!

You start off by cutting your squash in half, removing the seeds and baking it at 400F for about 45 minutes.

Now, this is the most fun... flip them over and using a fork, scrape the inside and see the magic happen! It all comes out like stringy spaghetti- hence the name!

Look at this amazing pile of golden nutrition! Now put aside and gather your other ingredients and ask Siri about the nutritional content of this delicious squash.

Seriously, that's what I did!

And look at the proof, Siri knows!

• 1 cup of spaghetti 491 calories

• 1 cup of Spaghetti Summer Squash, as she calls it, is 14 calories. unbelievable!!!! 

Now don't even start comparing the vitamin C content (15 times more)!

Now off to the Stir Fry pan. 

I assembled my choice ingredients. The original recipe this was inspired from had mushrooms (yuk for me), so I substituted with some sweet peppers and added some chicken breast for added protein. 

So here's how I did it.

Asian Inspired Spaghetti Squash 

(inspired by http://www.pickledplum.com/yakisoba-spaghetti-squash-recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 small spaghetti squash 

• 1 sweet pepper chopped in strips
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, sliced

• 2 scallions, finely chopped

• 2 cup coleslaw mix of carrots and cabbage
• 1 cup bean sprouts

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 tsp dried red chili, chopped (optional)

• 1 tbsp chopped peanuts
• 1 tbsp cilantro

• For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce

• ½ tbsp hot thai chili garlic sauce

• Salt and white pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half, scrape off the seeds with a spoon, place open side down and bake in the oven at 400Fº for 40-50 minutes.
2. Use a fork and scrape the flesh into strings.
3. In a large pan over high heat, add vegetable oil and cook the peppers, add coleslaw mix and red chile and cook for two minutes.
4. Add chicken and cook for another two minutes.
5. Add spaghetti squash, bean sprouts, scallions and sauce, and mix well until the sauce has evenly coated all the vegetables. Cook for two minutes and turn the heat off.
6. Transfer to a bowl, top with cilantro, peanuts and serve.

Quick Asian Slaw

You never know when or where you are going to find inspiration??? How about Saturday morning at the gym, while on the treadmill watching the Food Network and then going down from the gym at Loblaws into the fresh produce section.  That works!

I had seen a show where the chef made some Asian Slaw... he had me at CILANTRO! I didn't see all the particulars, but I did see cut up snow peas, cilantro (my love) and cabbage. I know he made a special dressing, but I chose this delicious pre-made dressing for a quick add in.

SO in the end this is what I did....

• 1 bag cole slaw mix
• 1 orange pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup sliced snow peas
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup of Asian dressing

Toss it all together and top with toasted sesame seeds.

Delightful, bright and fresh. Might be nice with some mango, or some apple or Asian pear too!

Amazing Chicken and Veggie Stirfry

When it's soooooo cold you just can't stand it anymore (like 18 days in a row of -30 C windshield factor), you need to turn to things in life that can give you warmth, like looking at old summer vacation photos, putting on your biggest sweater and socks and drinking lots of tea, sweating your head off doing a Zumba class.... or what I like to do- preparing a warm South Asian spicy Chicken and Veggie stirfry for you family!

So here's the colourful close-up. Don't you love the colours? Ya, you eat with your eyes!

I decided to combine some of the best flavours from other recipes that I have tried and loved. A mixture of chicken stock, soya sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha, honey and a bit of sesame oil. Mostly chicken broth and then hits of all the others, to your taste. To make it a bit thicker, you can add a teaspoon of cornstarch to your mixture.

Because of the sesame oil, I thought I would amp up the taste and crunch factor by using some sesame seeds to top the dish. But you can't just put them on top, right out of the bag... oh no....

You need to lightly toast them in a pan. Turn it to medium-high and don't walk away.

Keep on stirring until they become this golden, nutty brown.

Next... put a bit of canola oil in your pan and cook your chicken then take it out of your pan to a plate.

Use tons and tons of veggies, stirfrying your thicker veggies first- my greens beans and carrots.

...then add your 'medium' hard veggies, like these colourful peppers.

...then your quick cooking softer veggies, cut up baby bokchoi. Then add the chicken and your prepared sauce and let the flavours all work together - about 3-5 minutes.

Ta-da! Here you have a warm and healthy stirfry (over basmati or whatever you like) sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and ready to be devoured by your hungry family!

Sunday's Best with an Asian Flare

Seriously, I get tired of always having the same thing and sometimes I just want to change things up... So meet the Bok choy stirfry!

I saw these cute little bok choy in the store and thought... OK, I am gonna buy you guys and make a nice little stirfry. I placed some peanut oil in first, cut and washed the bok choy and then added in other ingredients with an Asian flare- some ginger, garlic, sesame oil and hoisin sauce. It turned out great, we just had troubles cutting the stringy leaves/stems a little.

I baked a nice pork tenderloin in the oven to go with it- with most of the same Asian flavours as a baste and served a little basmati. It was delicious!