Bring in the Harvest with Grilled Spaghetti Squash

This Grilled Spaghetti Squash is tender, healthy, sweet, and delicious served with paprika and fresh Parmesan cheese.

Happy first day of fall, friends!

You just can’t describe it any better than this …

“Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter’s deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world’s oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter.”
― Shauna Niequist

I love this time of year, harvesting squash, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage. Our garden treats are brimming in the baskets right now, and this year we tried something new: Grilled Spaghetti Squash.

My husband is more of a gardener than I am, but he loves helping me and being creative in the kitchen, coming up with tasty recipes. This dish today is so easy, it’s basically a 1, 2, 3 … recipe.

1, 2, 3 …

1. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
2. Season and place on the grill and cook until tender.
3. Use a fork to cut the spaghetti squash flesh into strings, then scoop out with a spoon.

Spaghetti squash is a very versatile yellow winter squash, which we love to replace pasta or rice with, when we’re trying to eat lower carbs. Last year I wrote about Baked Spaghetti Squash. I learned this food substitution about 10 years ago when I cooked my way through a Suzanne Sommers Get Skinny cookbook. My friend, Gina, at Skinnytaste, also cooks a lot with spaghetti squash and has a very simple recipe in her brand new book,  The Skinnytaste Cookbook.I loved her recipes because they were a mix of being really easy + gourmet. When I think of food, I like to think about the origin of where I learned to cook with a certain ingredient, such as spaghetti squash. I mean, I don’t remember eating this kind of squash as a kid … do you?

Our meal.

We had a casual meal for dinner over the weekend with garden potatoes, steak, tomatoes (so many tomatoes), and spaghetti squash! Our son, who’s been in China all summer, has been craving a garden-to-table meal. We like to keep it simple around here, and food always tastes better when it comes right out of the ground!

The seasoning.

Spaghetti squash is sort of bland if you don’t pair it with the right seasonings or sauces. We love paprika, and also later topping it with Parmesan cheese.

Tools needed:

Cutting knife
Spoon
Grill
Fork

Grilled Spaghetti Squash.

Heat the grill to medium-high; prepare the squash. Time the squash to be done cooking at the time of the other dishes you will be serving.

Spray or drizzle olive oil on the flesh of the spaghetti squash. Sprinkle with seasoning. (We love paprika!) Place on the grill cut side up for about 25-30 minutes; test with a fork to see that it is soft and ready for fleshing. (We do not flip it over.)

Season with salt and pepper and more seasonings, if desired. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese.

What’s your favorite way to cook spaghetti squash?

Grilled Spaghetti Squash

Yield: 6

Total Time: 45 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 whole spaghetti squash
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Paprika
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat the grill to medium-high. If your grill has temperature settings, set it for 400 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and turn both both pieces flesh side up. Spoon or scoop out the seeds.
3. Spray or drizzle olive oil on the flesh of the spaghetti squash. Sprinkle with seasoning (we love salt, pepper, and paprika). Place on the grill over medium high heat cut side up. Grill for about 25-30 minutes and test with a fork that it is soft and ready for fleshing.
4. Season with more salt and pepper and more seasonings, if desired. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese.

All images and text ©Sandy Coughlin for Reluctant Entertainer.

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