Spaghetti Squash, Quinoa & Parmesan Fritters

// delish healthy snack

To make these spaghetti squash cakes, you will need to precook the spaghetti squash in the oven. IMPORTANT STEP: After you baked the squash, cool it, and scrape it with a fork to remove the flesh in long strands. Try to get rid of as much liquid as you can. Then, mix in the spaghetti squash with the rest of the ingredients.

The key to making fritters successfully and making sure they don’t stick to the pan is to heat your skillet before adding fritters. You will need to heat the skillet before even adding oil (otherwise oil will burn). Once the skillet is heated and very hot, add oil which should sizzle immediately and roll all over the pan. Then add tablespoonfuls of fritters. They should not stick at all. They would stick, however, if your skillet is not hot enough.

Ingredients:

(vegetarian)

Produce Pasta & Grains

2 green onions 2 cups quinoa, cooked

2 cups spaghetti squash

1/4 cup spinach, fresh Baking & Spices

2/3 cup flour

Refrigerated 1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

Dairy

1/2 parmesan cheese

1 dollip sour cream or greek yogurt

// prep work

1. Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

2. Cut the squash in 2 halves, scrape out the seeds and the fiber out of each half.

3. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. Remove it from the oven when it's cooked through and soft, and let it cool. After squash cools, scrape squash with a fork to remove flesh in long strands and transfer to a bowl. Let it cool.

4. Important: Wring out the spaghetti squash. Try to get rid of as much liquid as you can.

5. Cooked spaghetti squash can be refrigerated for 4 days. I prefer to cook spaghetti squash, refrigerate it and make fritters the next day or 2 days later - that allows spaghetti squash to drain the liquid out and get dryer, which is preferable for fritters.

// to make the fritters

1. In a large bowl, using electric mixer, beat 2 eggs on high speed for 1-2 minutes. Add flour and continue beating for about 30 seconds to combine. To the same bowl, add spaghetti squash, quinoa, Parmesan cheese, finely chopped spinach, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix very well until all the mixture has uniform consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, even though it should be just perfect.

2. Heat a large skillet on high-medium heat until hot. Only then add olive oil. It should sizzle right away. Using a tablespoon, spoon the tablespoon-ful of the batter for each fritter and drop on the skillet. Using a spatula, correct the shape of each fritter, making it flatter and rounder. Cook until the bottom side of each fritter is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Using spatula, flip fritters to the opposite side, and cook 1-2 more minutes. When flipping the fritters, you can use a spoon on the opposite side of spatula to help push each fritter onto the spatula and then flipping. Turn off the heat and let the fritters sit in the skillet (uncovered) for 2-3 more minutes (check the bottom to make sure it's not burned - if it is too dark, remove fritters from the skillet immediately).

3. Serve as is, or top with the dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and chopped green onions.