A Healthy Alternative to Pasta Dinner: Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Grass-fed Lean Beef

Who does not love a hearty pasta dish? But if you are watching your diet like I am, you ought to try this delicious recipe. You won't miss the pasta a bit! 

*Disclaimer: I have now made numerous version of this, substituting tomatoes with mushrooms  or using tomato paste instead fresh or diced tomatoes. 

Ingredients:
1 medium sized spaghetti squash
1 can on diced tomatoes, drained 
(or 1 box of grape or cherry tomatoes for roasting)
2-3 shallots, diced
2 cups of washed and spun dried baby spinach (optional)
1 pound of lean ground beef (any ground meat would work well with this)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon of everything rub (combination of garlic powder, chili powder, cumin). 
    *feel free to use any other seasoning here (oregano, parsley, etc)
1-2 tablespoon of oil for frying (I used grape)
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 425. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. 

If you don't have enough strength to do this, poke the squash with a knife and microwave it on a paper towel for about 5 minutes, flipping over half way through.

Now cut in half, careful as it will be hot. Spray both sides of the squash with cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet cut part down. I placed foil under the squash to minimize clean up.

Roast for about 20 minutes, flip over and roast another 15 or so till you can peel off "spaghetti" with a fork.

If you are roasting tomatoes, toss them  with oil of choice and roast at 425 for about 15-20 minutes. You can roast the tomatoes same time as the squash (in a separate baking dish)

To prepare, the beef mixture, preheat skilled with oil.

Saute shallots till they soften. 

Add ground beef, cook breaking it up into chunks. Add salt and seasoning. 

When beef is cooked through, remove it with a slotted spoon. 

Spill out most of the oil. Add beef back to the skillet. 

Add spinach (if using), allow to wilt. Add tomatoes (either canned or roasted) . Mix well. 

Keep warm.

Once squash is almost cooked, carefully remove the 'spaghetti'. Combine with beef mixture. Top with grated parmesan.

Insides of a cut in half roasted spaghetti squash

This version is with roasted tomatoes

This version is with canned tomatoes and spinach

Thiis time I omitted roasted tomatoes. Added button mushrooms that were cleaned and finely chopped.
Added a little leftover pizza sauce to the cooked beef/mushroom/shallot mixture. Topped w shaved parmesan