Moroccan Spaghetti Squash

Ahhh.... January. That time of the year when everyone is on a diet and the wonders of the spaghetti squash become quite apparent. Easy to work with and full of fiber.

It's also easy to make it very boring. There is more to spaghetti squash than just treating it like spaghetti and pouring red sauce over it.

In an effort to spice it up (literally), I added my favorite Moroccan flavors to it and turned it into an awesome side dish. The next day, I used my immersion blender and used it to make an even more amazing soup!

The ingredients are shown on the picture. I love using Gourmet Garden's Stir-in Pastes as a way to make weekday meals easier so I'm using the garlic one as well as the cilantro.

MOROCCAN SPAGHETTI SQUASH AND SOUP

1 spaghetti squash (3 to 4 pounds)
1 tbsp butter
5 dried apricots
1/4 c red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or 1 tbsp garlic paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin.
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (or less to cut the heat)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or 1 tbsp cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash into half and scoop out the seeds. Brush the inside of the squash with olive oil. Roast spaghetti squash for 50 minutes or until you can break it apart with a squash. Separate the squash strands. This step can be done ahead.

Place the dried apricots in hot water for 3 to 5 minutes. Then dice into small pieces.

Melt 1 tbsp butter and stir in garlic and onion. Cook until tender. Stir in all of the spices as well as the dried apricots and blend. Toss the the spaghetti squash into the spice mixture and stir until blended and heated through.

FOR THE SOUP

Add 1 c. vegetable broth. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

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