Recipe: Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash

Luxurious coconut milk and peanut butter make a silky sauce — and a savory sweet topping for squash, edamame and broccoli.

Ingredients

1 large spaghetti squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup no-added-sugar peanut butter
1 cup canned light coconut milk, plus more if needed
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 large head broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets and steamed
2 bunches Swiss chard, roughly chopped and steamed
1 cup cooked edamame
1 bunch green onions or scallions, chopped, for garnish
1/2 cup chopped peanuts, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.
3. Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, using a large, sharp knife. Remove the seeds and stringy guts and discard or compost.
4. Brush the cut insides of the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Place the spaghetti squash, cut side down, on the prepared baking sheet and roast until tender, 45 to 60 minutes. When it’s done, the strands of the squash should fall off easily when scraped with a fork.
6. Remove from the oven and let the cooked spaghetti squash cool for about 5 minutes, then scrape all the flesh into a pile of strands in a large bowl.
7. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
8. Place the peanut butter, coconut milk, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and rice vinegar in a blender, and blend on high speed until completely smooth; add a little more coconut milk if a thinner consistency is desired.
9. Mix the squash with the cooked broccoli, Swiss chard and edamame.
10. Divide equally among four bowls. Drizzle with the peanut sauce and sprinkle with the green onions and peanuts.

Nutrition information (per serving)

Makes 4 servings

Calories: 591
Total fat: 40.5 g
Saturated fat: 7.9 g
Trans fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 1121.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 40.5 g
Fiber: 14.1 g
Sugar: 11.2 g
Protein: 27.3 g

— Skinny Liver: A Proven Program to Prevent and Reverse the New Silent Epidemic — Fatty Liver Disease by Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, with Ibrahim Hanouneh, MD (© 2017 Da Capo Lifelong Books).