Spaghetti Squash/Quinoa casserole!

Thanks to www.greenlitebites.com, I was introduced to spaghetti squash, and haven’t looked back since!

But I found that I was only using it as I would spaghetti – topped with pasta sauce and cheese.

I wish I had come up with this idea, but I got it from here:  http://www.artsy-foodie.com/2008/10/what-to-do-with-spaghetti-squash.html

I did change it up a bit, with what I had on hand, and changed some amounts to make it healthier (AND NO ONIONS!).  This is four servings!

here it is before getting mixed together - love only using one bowl!

here it is before getting mixed together - love only using one bowl!

can you see the bits of bacon and quinoa?!  Yum!

can you see the bits of bacon and quinoa?! Yum!

  • 2 cups cooked spaghetti squash, chopped
  • 8 ounces low-fat ricotta cheese
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 3 large eggs
  • 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (forgot to add bacon before I took the pic above!)
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • two big pinches of crushed red pepper
  • cracked pepper to taste

Each serving: 314 calories, 16.25 fat, 22.5 carbs, 1.25 fiber, 19 protein

My daughter and I each had a sliver while still warm last night, and it reminds us of quiche.  And guess what?  She actually had a slice for breakfast! 

I imagine this would be good for a Sunday brunch for something a bit different.  And since the spaghetti squash was chopped, you really couldn’t taste the spaghetti squash, everything just melded so well together!

UPDATE: After my friend and I reheated this for lunch, we both agreed that it was a tad dry, and we think that you could pass this off as a spaghetti squash/quinoa lasagna.  Making the same recipe as stated above, however, serving it with warm marinara drizzled over the top with grated Parmesan cheese. 

566 calories, 25 fat, 6 fiber, 37 carbs, 46 protein

With my huge side salad: 566 calories, 25 fat, 6 fiber, 37 carbs, 46 protein

It took me forever to find quinoa, and when I did, all the initial recipes I tried called for it cold, like a pasta salad.  I didn’t like it.  BUT I LOVE IT WARM!

Biggest Loser is on tonight!  See you at dinner!

About these ads

Tagged:

18 thoughts on “Spaghetti Squash/Quinoa casserole!

  1. Jennifer October 21, 2008 at 5:52 pm Reply

    I’m going to try that! Maybe I would like it!

  2. Meghann October 21, 2008 at 5:54 pm Reply

    Wow that looks great! Way to be creatvie with the spegetti squash! It was really is such a versatile vegetable. :)

  3. maggie October 21, 2008 at 5:58 pm Reply

    That looks GREAT! What an inventive way of using spaghetti squash :) I’m def gonna make this soon.

  4. MIL October 21, 2008 at 7:26 pm Reply

    Ihave to try this. It looks so good and you could really use your imagination to vary it!

    Thanks for bringing it up.

  5. maryann October 21, 2008 at 9:10 pm Reply

    Thanks for showing me this. It’s always good to have new ways to prepare it. You make it look so delicious :)

  6. Alexa October 21, 2008 at 9:37 pm Reply

    Hi! I am so glad the quinoa squash bake recipe inspired you. :-)
    It sounds great the way you made it too. I think the cottage cheese is what keeps the casserole moist. Ricotta cheese has a dryer texture when it bakes still tasty though. I’ll have to try it your way next time.

  7. Kevin October 21, 2008 at 11:38 pm Reply

    I have been wanting to try using spaghetti squash more often and this sound like a nice way to.

  8. VeggieGirl October 22, 2008 at 12:57 am Reply

    YUM!!!!!!

  9. Erica October 22, 2008 at 1:37 am Reply

    What a great idea! I think pasta sauce on almost anything makes it better :) I haven’t tried the spag squash yet! I must do so soon! Enjoy the biggest loser! I haven’t been watching this season :( I love that show though!

  10. Hangry Pants October 22, 2008 at 1:52 am Reply

    Oh my goodness that looks absolutely fantastic. I need to dive into spaghetti squash making ASAP!

  11. Christina October 26, 2008 at 11:32 pm Reply

    This recipe might prompt a marriage proposal from me. So what if you’re already married and we’re both straight women? I cannot wait to try it! It looks SO delicious, but I’d add onions! I think your onions are my tomatoes – I omit them whenever possible.

    Oh – and I do not think I’d like quinoa cold, either. I’ve always eaten it hot. I found the same problem with couscous. A lot of salads and side dishes called for it cold. When I first tried it, I thought I hated it. But I LOVE it hot!

  12. Swati February 11, 2009 at 7:15 am Reply

    its tastes great

  13. Carrie December 17, 2009 at 1:44 pm Reply

    I wanted to check out your spaghetti squash/quinoa lasagna after you mentioned it on my site. It looks fabulous!! I too am sad that I’ve been missing out on spaghetti squash for so long!

  14. [...] at it and said “what the hell is that and I am not eating that!”  I decided to make my spaghetti squash/quinoa casserole, but decided to add 1/2 cup of pasta sauce to the mix.  So while it kind of looks like ass, the [...]

  15. Lisa September 29, 2010 at 9:42 pm Reply

    Thanks for posting this recipe on my blog. We’ll give it a try! It looks good (but doesn’t everything that includes bacon?!?). :)

  16. Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook April 12, 2011 at 5:25 pm Reply

    This looks fantastic! Have yet to cook with quinoa but I would like to give it a try. So nice to have more options than just marinara with spaghetti sqaush!

  17. R April 27, 2012 at 12:27 pm Reply

    How long did you cook your version for and what temperature?

  18. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance April 18, 2013 at 11:00 am Reply

    This DOES look good! Thanks for sharing this link with me! :)

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 359 other followers