Spaghetti squash with spicy tomato sauce and 'meat'balls

So it was my friends birthday and I decided to make a birthday dinner for her. I asked her what she wanted me to make but she couldn't think of anything she would want that she thought I could vegan-ize. I finally just told her to tell me what her favourite meal was and that I would make that. Her response... as you can probably tell by the title of this post was spaghetti and meatballs. So we went with that.

As a result I bring you Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Tomato Sauce and 'Meat'balls

For those of you that don't know what spaghetti squash is it is a type of winter squash that is a low calorie (42 calories per cup), gluten free substitute for spaghetti. When raw the squash resembles most winter squashes but when cooked the 'flesh' falls off the squash in spaghetti like ribbons (as you can see in the picture above). So how does it taste? everyone LOVED it! the noodles are a bit more watery, crunchy texture and less carb like when compared to regular spaghetti but still delicious.

when picking out a spaghetti squash I always go with the brighter yellow ones because they are said to be more ripe. But just make sure there are no defects (ie. brown or green discolouration).

Directions
1) stab the spaghetti squash with a fork as many times as you want (this is the best part!)
2) put in the microwave (its faster) for 10-20 mins. it is ready when the squash indents when you put pressure on it.
3) cool for 10-15 mins
4) cut it open take out the seeds and use a fork to get out the strands (aka. your noodles)

as for the tomato sauce we were short on time so I bought organic tomato sauce from the store and added my own veggies, a chilli pepper, and spices (thyme, rosemary, basil, marjoram, and oregano). I brought it to a boil and then set it to simmer for 20 mins so that all the vegetables would cook.

now onto the 'Meat'balls

Ingredients
2 cups of cooked lentils
3/4 cup of oats
3/4 cup of corn meal
1 small onion diced and caramelized with 2 cloves of garlic (in 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil)
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and nutritional yeast to taste ( i use a pinch of salt, about 1 tsp pepper, 2 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1/3 cup nutritional yeast.
2 'eggs' made from egg replacer
and some BBQ sauce

Directions
1. cook lentils according to directions and use a blender to blend the lentils into a paste. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. add everything (except the BBQ sauce) and mix (you can add some vegetable broth if the mixture seems to dry)
3. form the balls and lightly coat with BBQ sauce
4. bake in oven for 10-15 mins.



Here is a picture of the non-spaghetti squash (whole wheat spaghetti instead( finished product topped with daiya (vegan) cheese:

Enjoy!