Spaghetti Squash– What can I do with this amazing gourd (technically a fruit)? After consulting my food bible (Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian”) and coming up with nothing, I decided to make it island style. What else could I do in the Bahama’s? Well, I sliced it in half, spooned out the seeds and roasted it, cut side down in a hot oven (around 400F, but I am never really sure in my onboard oven), in a pan with a spoonful of olive oil and water for approximately 40 minutes. When it came out of the oven, I scooped out the delicious, stringy, caramelized strands and sautéed them in a cast iron skillet with a combo of 1 tblsp. Olive oil, a splash of OJ, some dried coconut flakes and dried cranberries, a touch of coriander, 2 pinches of sea salt and a dash of turmeric and brown sugar. Now I know for some of you “a pinch” (literally, what I can pinch with my index finger and thumb), “a dash” (what comes out when I give the shaker a couple of shakes), and “a touch” (slightly less than a dash) are not real enough measurements, but that is how I do things around here! I learned the old fashioned way from my mom, that sometimes you just gotta know by looking and tasting. I don’t follow too many recipes; I go with the general idea and frequently find myself adding and subtracting new ingredients.

What resulted was a transformation from gourd to “sweet island mash”. It tasted delicious! I would have liked a picture, but of course, I invented this mixture right before dinner and of course only thought of a photo-op after half of it was gone. So much for planning! Anyway, it was pretty – bright orange with specks of red cranberry mixed throughout – and more importantly, it tasted great! Enjoy!