{"id":1678,"date":"2012-12-01T22:13:42","date_gmt":"2012-12-02T05:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/?p=1678"},"modified":"2012-12-01T22:13:42","modified_gmt":"2012-12-02T05:13:42","slug":"how-to-cook-spaghetti-squash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/?p=1678","title":{"rendered":"How to Cook Spaghetti Squash"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>\n<li>Use it in place of  pasta. You can experiment with different sauces and herbs to create a great  tasting dish. Try it with Alfredo sauce, or add some pesto and butter or your  favorite herbs.<\/li>\n<li><!--more--><\/li>\n<\/h2>\n<h2>Directions<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>(BAKE IT).<\/li>\n<li>Pierce the whole shell  several times with a large fork or skewer and place in baking dish.<\/li>\n<li>Cook squash in preheated  375\u00b0F oven approximately 1 to 1-1\/2 hours or until flesh is tender.<\/li>\n<li>*****.<\/li>\n<li>(BOIL IT).<\/li>\n<li>Heat a pot of water large  enough to hold the whole squash.<\/li>\n<li>When the water is boiling,  drop in the squash and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on its size.<\/li>\n<li>When a fork goes easily  into the flesh, the squash is done.<\/li>\n<li>*****.<\/li>\n<li>(MICROWAVE IT).<\/li>\n<li>Cut squash in half  lengthwise; remove seeds.<\/li>\n<li>Place squash cut sides up  in a microwave dish with 1\/4 cup water.<\/li>\n<li>Cover with plastic wrap  and cook on high for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on size of squash.<\/li>\n<li>Add more cooking time if  necessary.<\/li>\n<li>Let stand covered, for 5  minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>With fork &#8220;comb&#8221; out the strands.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>*****.<\/li>\n<li>(SLOW COOKER or CROCK-POT).<\/li>\n<li>Choose a smaller spaghetti squash (unless you have an extra large slow cooker) so that it will fit.<\/li>\n<li>Add 2 cups of water to slow cooker.<\/li>\n<li>Pierce the whole shell several times with a large fork or skewer, add to Crock Pot, cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours.<\/li>\n<li>Once the squash is cooked, let it cool for 10 to 20 minutes so it will be easier to handle, before cutting in half (if it wasn&#8217;t already) and removing the seeds. Pull a fork lengthwise through the flesh to separate it into long strands, (See photos.).<\/li>\n<li>You can do these steps ahead of time, then prepare any of the spaghetti squash recipes whenever the mood strikes.<\/li>\n<li>BUYING &amp; STORING.<\/li>\n<li>When buying spaghetti squash, look for hard fruit that is heavy for its size, about eight to nine inches in length and four to five inches in diameter and with a pale even color. Avoid any squash with soft spots and green color is a sign of immaturity. The average four-pound spaghetti squash will yield about five cups.<\/li>\n<li>Spaghetti Squash can be stored at room temperature for about a month. After cutting, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 2 days. Spaghetti squash also freezes well. Pack cooked squash into freezer bags, seal, label and freeze. Partially thaw before re-using, then steam until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Use it in place of pasta. You can experiment with different sauces and herbs to create a great tasting dish. Try it with Alfredo sauce, or add some pesto and butter or your favorite herbs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1678"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1681,"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678\/revisions\/1681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gourmet.mygreatvet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}