Recipe: Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes and Basil

My cooking streak continues thanks to attempting to eat better/cleaner and maintain a mainly vegan diet. I've found a bunch of neat recipes that have turned out really well, and I'll be sharing them in the coming weeks. I've tried some clunkers, too, but...I'll spare you from those recipes. I've been on a spaghetti squash kick lately, and when I saw an interesting looking picture recipe come across my facebook feed, I decided I just had to try and make it. So here goes...spaghetti squash stuffed with tomatoes and basil. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large spaghetti squash

• 2 tbsp. olive oil (preferably garlic olive oil)

• 1 large Roma tomato, finely chopped OR as many grape tomatoes, halved, as you can handle

• 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil (or more - I really like a lot of basil)

• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Using a large knife or a cleaver, slice slits in the spaghetti squash lengthwise down the middle. 
3. Place the squash on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, check to see if the squash is soft. If it's still hard, cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut in half. 
4.  Use a spoon to remove the seeds and center strings. 
5. Scrape and fluff the stringy squash with a fork. Place "spaghetti" in a large bowl. Mix in olive oil, tomatoes, basil, and garlic powder. 
6. Re-stuff squash shells with "spaghetti" mixture. Top with cheese. (optional)
7. Turn the oven up to broil. Place squash in the broiler for 3-4 minutes, until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving the squash.

This was a tag team cooking effort. My boyfriend and I made this together. He picked some fresh basil from the garden and I cooked and assembled the stuffed squash. I didn't use as much oil as I should have (trying to be healthy...boo) and my squash definitely could have used some more. I also forgot to add the garlic salt. Whoops. But I definitely liked the way this turned out. It was a light and healthy - yet filling - dinner that didn't take too much time to prepare.