Spaghetti Squash With Mushrooms and Parmesan, But Without Cancer!

You asked for it! And by "you," I mean Ame. She suggested that I write a parody of all the annoying spaghetti squash recipes she sees on social media. I can't remember if she said Pinterest or Facebook, but I'm sure they both have their fair share.

I looked for some spag-squash recipes on Pinterest, and I love fungus, which is what mushrooms are, so I picked this one from Caroline on Pickledplum.com. Spaghetti Squash with Mushrooms Parmesan. It's gluten-free because you're using squash instead of pasta. That's good if you have gluten sensitivity or gluten superstition or gluten hypochondria. Is there a phrase for "cheesy vegetarian," like if you avoid meat but you're okay with cheese? ... Yes, Wikipedia says it's called "lacto-vegetarian." That describes this recipe too.

So let's get down to the pictures!

This is a spaghetti squash. I'm confident of that identification because of the sticker that was on it. The recipe calls for a two pound squash.

This was probably 3-4 pounds, so I saved half of it for another day.

Have you seen mushrooms before?

That's what these are.

White button mushrooms.

This is what mushrooms look like after you slice them.

I minced some garlic into this steel thing that's supposed to be used for poaching eggs.

We tried poached eggs once and it was a lot of hassle without much pay-off,

so I just use them like ramekins. I mean, I guess people cook things in ramekins.

I use them as little containers to hold spices or minced garlic or stuff like that.

Whoa, that tablespoon of thyme is so fresh, you can't even get it in focus.
When I started cooking the garlic and thyme in oil, this stuff was popping and spitting and leaping out of the pan. But it did have more flavor than dried thyme.

Have you seen mushrooms sauteing in olive oil in a pan before?

With garlic and thyme? Here's what mine looked like.

Here's the spaghetti squash after I baked it for an hour at 380 degrees F.

Does your oven have a setting for 380? Mine doesn't.
The recipe on pickledplum.com linked to another site with

basic instructions for baking spaghetti squash.

Most people cut it in half or quarters, then bake it.

It's hard to cut through the skin when it's raw, but easy after it's baked,

so they recommend just bake the whole thing and cut it afterwards.

I think next time I will cut it first though, because with their way, you end up

pulling out a lot of the good stringy parts to remove the seeds.

Here's what it looked like as I pulled out the good parts of the squash.

You don't have to work hard with the fork to shred it.

The stuff just naturally comes away in shreds,

plus it separates easily from a very thin skin that's left over.

So it's not like you're wasting a thick rind or something, like with watermelon.

Can you believe people make sweet pickles out of watermelon rind?

I guess it's edible, but that sounds like somebody was running out of food

and got desperate and just pickled anything they could.

Cubans supposedly marinated grapefruit rinds and grilled them like steaks,

during the "challenging period" after Russia stopped subsidizing them.

I totally want to find that recipe and try it someday.

Here's another pic after half of the squash was scraped clean.

See what I mean about the thin shell that's left?

If you follow that recipe, I guess you're supposed to turn off the mushrooms and set them aside while the squash finishes baking and then after you scoop out the squash, you add it to the skillet and bring it up to high again for one minute? That seems silly. I'd bake my squash to start with, then wait til it's cooled to room temp, scoop it all out into a container. Then start off sauteing garlic and thyme, add mushrooms, finish off with the squash and Parmesan. Obviously that's the cheap kind that comes in a container pre-grated. I also totally skipped parsley because it doesn't impress me much.

Here's what the final thing looked like in my black bowl.

Not as dark as the stuff in Caroline's pictures, but it turned out good.

Caroline also has a picture telling what she thinks each ingredient will cure or ailments that they are supposed to help you with. I'm guessing parsley is not a substitute for chemotherapy, but your mileage may vary. Have you seen any studies proving these foods will NOT cure cancer?
I rest my case.

That's all I got!
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