Sometimes the sweetest meals are created at whim.
I had originally found it at a local farmer’s market. A spaghetti squash almost rolled right off the rack at me, and I knew it was time to experiment. I had never purchased, baked, or eaten a spaghetti squash before, but had recently seen it as the main ingredient in several recipes, so to the till we went.
Upon slicing it in half, I found it to be not a spaghetti squash. There were large orange pumpkin seeds (or something that resembled them) inside. I carved them out and decided this squash would have to make do. Following directions in one of the recipes for spaghetti squash, I carved out the innards, placed each half of the squash face-down in a casserole dish with 1/4 inch water in the bottom, and baked the squash halves for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.
They turned out perfect, mouth-watering in their simplistic perfection. In the meantime, while they were a-bake, I cut a white onion in half and blinked away tears as I sliced and diced. In a pot, I melted 1 teaspoon of organic butter and 2 teaspoons of coconut oil on medium and added the diced onion once the butter started to bubble. Every now and then I tossed with a spoon, to which I then added 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 bay leaf, a teaspoon of ground thyme and a teaspoon of freshly chopped sage.
The mixture simmered on the burner, wafting aromas of garlic butter and herbs throughout my kitchen. My stomach growled.
I next added a 700 ml bottle of organic portobello mushroom pasta sauce, and, after a few moments mixing and heating, a large container of organic, non-medicated ground beef. I placed a lid on the pot after stirring all the ingredients together well. Almost forgot! On searching the fridge for leftover veggies that needed to be used up, I found a half green pepper and 1/3 of a dark green jalapeno. I chopped and added both.
Within fifteen minutes the squash were finished and the ground beef was thoroughly cooked. I then chopped a 1/2 bunch of cilantro and added it to the beef mixture, stirred and let it sit a moment, allowing all the flavors to fuse together.
To plate, I drizzled a teaspoon of olive oil on top of a quarter of the squash, then scooped the tomato-beef sauce on top. I ended with freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste.
The squash almost melted in my mouth and was such a nice contrast with the hearty tomato and beef flavors. I’ve started to embrace the Paleolithic Diet as a new way of eating, and all the ingredients in this delicious and easy-to-make dinner fit perfectly into the no-dairy and grain way of eating that was that of our ancient ancestors. One thing was clear: I was feasting like a queen!
