Okay. WHO AMONG YOU KNEW THAT YOU COULD COOK A SPAGHETTI SQUASH IN THE MICROWAVE IN TEN MINUTES??? Ya'all are assholes, keeping that secret from me, knowing my deadly serious spaghetti squash addiction, letting me spend 45 minutes waiting for the oven timer to ding. Sheesh. I see how it is. Anyway. Hostility aside. Now that I know this, there is no turning back. I am slightly skeeved by microwave cooking but am also colossally lazy, so guess which self state won? 10 minutes vs 45 minutes. Ding ding ding.
Boyfriend and I had sushi for dinner last night. My first time eating rice after doing a Whole 30. Except I don't know how I tolerated the rice since I got freaking glutened by there being tempura crunch flakes in a roll that did not advertise having them.
((Blegh. I never learn my lesson with sushi, which is my single biggest culprit when it comes to accidental glutening. I will never understand why restaurants seemingly list all the ingredients of their dishes except for the ones I'm allergic to. Particularly sushi joints who painstakingly list tuna, salmon, caviar, cucumber and avocado in an inside out roll of rice and seaweed. Why the shit wouldn't the crunch also be listed? I digress....))
SO eating sushi gave me a taste for one of my favorite crappy Americanized Chinese food dishes - Cold Sesame Noodles. I happened to have a good set of ingredients on hand and consulted Martha Stewart's recipe, making edits and improvements below so everything is pretty paleo (I used Tamari, which some consider a no no) and gluten free.
You could substitute gluten free spaghetti, egg noodles or shirataki noodles for the spaghetti squash. I happen to love the al dente feel of spaghetti squash and think it goes perfectly the flavors of the sauce. Great with a side of broccoli. Madam Martha threw in scallions, but I didn't have any on hand so its not included in the below, though I do think it would be a nice touch. I also have seen other recipes for this dish that included shredded carrot and cucumber too, also an interesting variation that ups the crunch and the color.
Paleo Cold Sesame Noodles
1 spaghetti squash
6 tablespoons sesame paste, stirred (tahini)
2 teaspoons of coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
3 tablespoons of tamari (gluten free soy sauce) or coconut aminos
a few dashes of hot sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chinese five spice
1 heaping tablespoon coconut oil (sesame or peanut oil would taste great here too if you prefer)
2/3 cup water
Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out goopy strings and seeds. Place face down on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 10 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
Take out a medium sized serving bowl.
Mince ginger and garlic. Add coconut oil to a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic once oil is hot and sautee for 2 minutes.
While ginger and garlic sautee in oil, spoon tahini into bowl. Once ginger and garlic are lightly browned, pour contents of sauce pan into the bowl and whisk. Add tamari, hot sauce, five spice and coconut sugar whisking again. Add 1/3 of a cup of water. Taste and check consistency. If still too thick, add the remaining water. It should be the consistency of a cream sauce and no longer that of peanut butter. Set aside. Unless your spaghetti squash is gigantic, there will likely be some sauce left over, which would be tasty on chicken or veggies.
Using a fork, remove flesh of spaghetti squash, forming "noodles." Add half of the tahini sauce and stir. If it coats to your liking - eat! If not - add more sauce! Rocket science, here.
Yum! Exactly the brunch I had in mind today.
