Spaghetti squash is awesome. Do you ever cook with it? It is a great alternative to traditional pasta if you are trying to decrease your carbohydrate intake, have a gluten intolerance, or are just interested in overall lifestyle changes to improve health and wellness.

Once cooked (I like to roast it), the squash breaks apart into strands of spaghetti shaped noodles. It has a soft yet crunchy texture and a subtly sweet flavor, a great side dish on its own or tossed with lemon zest, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs.

It is also excellent topped with this deliciously healthy meat sauce; a combination of lean ground bison and chopped cremini mushrooms. The meat is flavorful, lean and a great alternative to ground beef. Mushrooms absorb all the flavors around them and add a nice rich texture.

If you do not like mushrooms (I did not used to but sometimes tastes change), leave them out. Don’t eat meat, triple the mushrooms. Always lots of options here, folks.

Looks good, right? Give it a try!

“Spaghetti” with Meat Sauce

Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeded
1 cup water or broth

Preheat oven to 400. Place squash, cut side down, on rimmed baking sheet or other pan large enough to hold squash. Add water. Roast 35-45 minutes, depending on size of squash, until tender but not mushy. Add more water if necessary. Remove from oven, cool, and gently scrape out “noodles” into a large bowl. Toss with salt, pepper, and lemon zest (if desired).

Meat Sauce

olive oil
1 pound ground buffalo
1 cup shallots or yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 cup cremini mushrooms, stemmed and diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon garlic
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh thyme, basil, or parsley

Film a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat. Add ground buffalo, season with salt and pepper and gently brown, breaking up pieces as necessary. Drain and set aside. Add more olive oil (about a tablespoon or so) to the same skillet. Add onion, carrot, celery, mushroom, salt and pepper and cook until vegetables sweat, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and garlic and cook 1 minute. Add ground buffalo and stir to combine. Add tomatoes, squeezing the whole tomatoes between your fingers to make bite sized pieces, and tomato juice, stir to combine. Bring to boil then drop to simmer and allow sauce to cook for abut 30 minutes, until slightly reduced and flavorful. Add herbs, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately, store in refrigerator up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 2 months.