a squash disguise

What I like about Fall is the variety of:

Fragrances

Flavors

Fun

Fallen Leaves

and we can't forget FOOD!

With Fall upon us and Halloween right around the corner, squash was a perfect food to experiment with. It's a smaller, pumpkin-like vegetable, which is rather cute! After being cooked, I kind of expected this spaghetti squash to blow my mind! That is...the looks of the "spaghetti" I mean. There was all this hype about its noodle-like quality and I honestly envisioned noodles exploding from the squash. Yeah, that didn't exactly happen. I think I might have brushed the inside of my squash with a little too much olive oil, because the noodles were very wet and didn't separate easily (notice picture above). However, it was definitely cool to see the noodles peel away from the inside of the squash. They just didn't impress me the way I was expecting. I think I overdid it with the olive oil and I might have gotten a little too anxious starting to pull the noodles off the squash while it was still VERY hot! Go figure. Me, anxious? While cooking? That's just absurd. Despite the fact that my noodles didn't turn out the way I was hoping, the final meal was quite unique in flavor, very fragrant, and I'd say I had fun trying to figure out this new vegetable. This recipe incorporated three of the things I like about Fall, all in one bite.

What I like about Halloween is the variety of:

Creative ideas

Collaboration

Cider

Clowns

and we can't forget costumes!

I think spaghetti squash fits in with Halloween perfectly. It's wearing its own disguise 24/7, until you cook it. Then you see it's true noodles...err...colors.

Not only was cooking spaghetti squash an experiment, but being vegan for the month of October has been a HUGE experiment. The recipes on the blog are not the only ones we've tried this month. October has brought a variety of recipes into our kitchens. Here are a few others that I have tried on my own. I've given them a star rating (out of 5) for convenience, as well as my own quick little opinion.

Mocha Chip Muffins *****

from Vegan with a Vengeance
These were fast, easy and delicious. A big hit at work!

Tempeh & White Bean Sausage Patties ****

from Vegan with a Vengeance
These were fairly easy to make. A little bit of prep work, but the patties had great flavor and stayed together really well. Great on a bun or in a wrap.

Sarah's Delicious Chili ***

from How It All Vegan
I love chili, so I was excited to try this recipe. I took one bite and realized that it was either the curry paste or the chili powder that made it extremely spicy! I had to tone it down by adding more vegetable broth. Other than that, it was a great vegan chili.

Big Ben's Lentil Burgers *

from How It All Vegan

These took quite a bit of time to make and the end result was quite disappointing. They didn't stay together well at all and they were very bland. In the end I basically had to smash two patties together and stick 'em in a wrap.

Basil-Tofu Ricotta ****

from Vegan with a Vengeance

This "cheese" resembled ricotta so much, it was scary! It's a great substitute for cheese on top of a pizza, in a wrap, or on top of pasta. And, it was SO easy!