Sesame Spaghetti Squash Salad, Great for Holidays Entertaining

I received many recipe requests from my garden friends for the Sesame Spaghetti Squash Salad I brought to Locust Grove Gardeners’ Potluck Lunch in November.

This salad is great for entertaining and thought my blogging friends would like to try it also.

Sesame Spaghetti Squash Salad

Adapted From “Wokking Your Way to Low Fat Cooking“ by Norma Chang

Ingredients
1 – 2 tablespoons Asian sesame paste or smooth peanut butter (see NOTE 1)
1 – 2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar or to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt or to taste
2 teaspoons sugar or to taste
1 – 2 cloves garlic, puréed
¼ – ½ teaspoon ground white pepper or to taste
Combine all the above in a small bowl. Mix to dissolve sugar and to blend in sesame paste. This is the dressing. Can be done the day before and kept refrigerated.

1 pound spaghetti squash, parboil until it can be fluffed with a fork and is crunchy, 9 – 13 minutes
½ – 1 cup broccoli florets, cut into smaller florets and blanched (see NOTE 2)
½ – 1 cup cauliflower florets, cut into smaller florets and blanched (see NOTE 2)
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
½ red onion, cut into thin strips
2 – 4 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 – 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds and/or almonds

Preparations
In a mixing bowl, combine all the vegetables and dried cranberries. Toss with most of the dressing. Taste, add remaining dressing as needed. Arrange on serving platter. Garnish with sesame seeds and/or almonds. Serve.

NOTE 1: To make your own sesame paste go to Leftover Turkey Recipe 2.

NOTE 2: To blanch: drop broccoli and cauliflower in boiling water, stir, drain and cool under cold running water, drain again and pat dry.

NOTE 3: This salad can be prepared ahead of time but toss in broccoli just before serving to prevent discoloration from the vinegar in the dressing.

NOTE 4: Substitute and/or add other seasonal or readily available vegetables: asparagus, celery, cucumber, snow peas, bean sprouts, peppers …..

Parboiling sphaghetti squash:
Microwave or bake in the oven, whole or cut into smaller pieces. I like to cut the squash into quarters remove the seeds and steam on top of the stove, this gives me better control over the texture.

Add about 1 inch of water to pot. Place seeded squash cut side down in pot. Cover. Bring to boil on high, lower heat to medium and steam until squash can be fluffed with a fork and is crunchy, start checking after 8 minutes. AVOID overcooking. Keep an eye on the water level, do not allow pot to get dry.
Parboiled squash freezes well. Package into meal-sized portion, date, label and freeze.

Spaghetti squash skin is very hard, use a sharp knife and excercise care when cutting.

Copyright © 2011 by Norma Chang