And He Cooks

I am very fortunate to be married to a handy guy. He can fix or build just about anything. According to his mom, he was the kid that disassembled all of his toys and put them back together....correctly. My mother used to call him Mr. Fix-It because every time she called him with a technical problem, he would fix it... usually without much effort.

He helps out with domestic duties such as washing and folding clothes, sweeping and vacuuming, and loading/unloading the dishwasher. He maintains our yard, he scoops the litterboxes AND he cooks...I mean really cooks! This is very impressive for a guy who lived at home until his mid 30s and whose idea of cooking was throwing a burger on the grill!

In our 10 1/2 year marriage, he has come a long way in the kitchen and even puts me to shame on certain dishes. While I tend to be more of a recipe-follower, Neal likes to experiment. He will start with a recipe and tweak it to his liking. Just about every time he has done this, he comes out with a delicious, interesting dish. I can only remember one time he cooked something that was waaaaayyyy too salty, and that was because of a misprint in the recipe he used. We both like to try new and different recipes and if we can't find something in the assortment of cookbooks on the shelf, there's always the Internet. What did we do before the Internet?

I was going to be late getting home last night so he decided to prepare our meal, even though we had leftovers we could have eaten, and would have, had I been in charge of dinner! Lucky for me, he was in the mood to cook and found a recipe for baked spaghetti squash lasagana on the Internet. I know it sounds like an odd dish, but it was really a delish dish! We had everything on hand, so no last minute trips to the store, and it was a one-dish meal, so not a lot of pots and pans and clean up required.

You can find the recipe on www.allrecipes.com, but I thought you might like to see it posted here.

Baked Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Style

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 cube vegetable bouillon
• black pepper to taste
• 1 (15 ounce) can black olives, chopped
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
2. Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool.
3. Meanwhile, spray a non-stick saucepan with cooking spray. Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in tomatoes, basil, bouillon cube, and black pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until you have a medium thick sauce.
4. Remove squash strands with a fork, reserving the shells. Layer each half with a spoonful of the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until shells are full, or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until Parmesan cheese melts.

Instead of using a bouillon cube, Neal used the Better Than Bouillon in a jar and he also added some Ricotta cheese that we had left over in the fridge. The ricotta added a creamy texture and made it seem more like real lasagna. You really must try this, even if you're not fond of squash. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!