Garlic and Olive Oil Spaghetti Squash

If you remember from my Fall on the Farm post, I picked up two different varieties of fresh squash over the weekend, both of which I had no experience cooking.  To the internet I went!  On Spark Recipes I found several options for cooking spaghetti squash, but most of them called for canned tomatoes, which I did not have, so I chose this one for the sole fact that I had all the ingredients already in my kitchen.

Recipe:
1 spaghetti squash
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds being careful to preserve as much of the insides as possible.

(Diva Note: Have you ever cut a spaghetti squash in half?  Holy toughness!  In reading the comments on this recipe someone mentioned that she 'had to wait for husband to come home and prepare the squash', which I thought was a bit odd.  I get it now.  I had to practically jump up and down to throw my whole body weight into cutting this sucker in half.  But I did it.  Ha!  Diva - 1, Squash - 0)

2. In a casserole dish (spray with cooking spray - I used olive oil from my Misto cannister), lie squash face down and add 1/4 cup of water.   Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

3. Turn squash over then bake for another 30 minutes.

4. As squash cools, saute garlic and olive oil in pan.  Using a serving fork, scrape the squash out and into pan with garlic and olive oil.  It should come out in long, spaghetti-like strands.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper as desired.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish.
Optional Additions (not included in Nutrition below): black olives, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, seasonings - I used black olives and some mozzarella because I had some that needed to be used before spoiling.

Nutritional Information: (for 2 servings)
Calories: 181.4
Total Fat: 14.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 113.4 mg
Total Carbs: 14.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.9 g
Protein: 1.7 g

Verdict:
I was slightly concerned that this recipe would not be filling enough, especially for Alex, so I planned to make some garlic bread as a filler, but I completely forgot.  I shouldn't have worried.  Neither Alex nor I could finish our portions, and we stayed full all night.  As far as taste, several people mentioned in the reviews that this tastes 'just like spaghetti.'  They are lying.  It had a slightly sweet taste that typical spaghetti noodles just don't have.  Not that this was a bad thing.  We liked it.  Just be prepared.  Whoever you are serving will not be tricked into thinking this is spaghetti!  I really liked the additions of the cheese and the olives.  I would like to try a few other combinations, especially the tomatoes.  Overall, we liked the taste and the satisfied feeling at the end of the meal.  Having to bake the squash for an hour is a little time consuming but not labor intensive.  Supposedly there are ways to bake the squash much more quickly in the microwave, so if you're pressed for time, give that a try.  As far as my second attempt at a vegetarian meal, this was successful (and Alex did not suggest adding meat this time - woo hoo!).  I will definitely be picking up more spaghetti squash in the future and trying variations on this and other recipes.