Creamy Spaghetti Squash

One of the first "new foods" I learned about when I first researched Paleo was spaghetti squash. I am sure you all know what it is....but on the off chance you don't....spaghetti squash is a variety of squash that, when cooked, a fork can be used to shred the squash into spaghetti-like strings. The spaghetti squash has a really mild (almost bland) flavor that is a noodle substitute for all of us paleo-folk. There are probably a thousand recipes for Paleo Spaghetti that uses this type of squash, and I think I have made 100 of them.
Each recipe has been fine...but that is the problem, they were just "fine". No spaghetti squash recipe has ever made me jump up and down. I decided that I needed to try something different with spaghetti squash. And I hit a gold mine with this recipe! This was the perfect side dish and was rich and creamy - a combination I have really missed! This recipe makes a ton, which was fine by me! I ate on it for days :)

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 6 strips of bacon (or more)
• 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 6 eggs
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half*, scoop out the seeds, and place cut side down on a plate. Microwave for 10 minutes (this is much faster that 40 minutes in the oven!)
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Once bacon is crispy, remove the bacon from heat and set aside.
3. In the same skillet over medium heat, whisk in the arrowroot powder to the bacon grease and let it cook for a few minutes.
4. While the arrowroot cooks and thickens, combine eggs, coconut milk, Italian seasoning, parsley, salt and garlic powder in a bowl until fully combined.
5. Pour egg mixture into skillet with arrowroot, stirring frequently, and cook eggs until cooked through, approx 3-5 minutes.
6. As the egg cooks, chop the cooked bacon.
7. Shred spaghetti squash with a fork to create "noodles" and add to large bowl. Add egg mixture to the bowl of noodles and mix to incorporate. Stir in bacon pieces
8. Enjoy as a side dish or even as breakfast!

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp is one of my favorite creatures from the sea, although I rarely cook it. I am not sure why. It's weird really. I will typically cook some sort of fish (tilapia, salmon, etc) but I never like fish as leftovers. However, I could eat shrimp as leftovers with no concern at all! You would think that my go-to sea food would be shrimp if for no other reason. When I knew that I was going to cook shrimp, I couldn't decide what to serve it with. I ultimately decided to make Shrimp Scampi, because everything is better with spaghetti squash noodles!. This dish turned out really good and now I want to go to the beach for some fresh seafood!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 Spaghetti Squash, halved and seeds removed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp Evoo + 1 additional Tbsp
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• Splash of cooking white wine
• Sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Sprinkle the flesh of spaghetti squash with sea salt and place cut side down on baking sheet
3. Bake for 35-40 minutes
4. Meanwhile, combine the shrimp in a large bowl with the lemon juice, oregano, garlic and Evoo. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes
5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the additional Tbsp of evoo, and then add the onion and peppers, cooking until onions are soft
6. Increase the heat to medium high and add the shrimp mixture. Stir often. Once shrimp have turned pink, add in tomatoes and splash of wine.
7. Cook until tomatoes are heated through
8. Once spaghetti squash is done, remove scrape insides of squash with fork to produce pasta like strands. Be careful as the squash is VERY hot.
9. Put spaghetti squash noodles in bowl and top with shrimp mixture.
10. Consume!