Butternut Squash Pasta/Salad

Finals weeks is a time of improvisation.  There's no point in grocery shopping, because after the brutal 6 days of studying, sleep deprivation, caffeine overdose and carpal tunnel, we head home to be fed by our loving parents.  I hate wasting food, so I threw together this salad using the remaining ingredients from a pasta I made this week.  The salad above is made by tossing butternut squash and garlic cloves in olive oil and black pepper and roasting at 350F for 40-45mins.  The basil leaves are tossed with lemon juice.  Top with ricotta cheese. Quite delicious! The pasta I made was from the blog "Eats Well With Others." 

 Photo by Joanne on Eats Well With Others

The original recipe calls for a "spaghetti squash."  I was previously unaware that such a vegetable existed.  I accidentily got butternut squash, not knowing the difference.   This is a very large vegetable to purchase on accident.  So I changed the recipe.  I used whole wheat pasta instead of spaghetti squash, and added roasted squash to the noodles.  Here is how I made the pasta:

Ingredients (I don't really measure, but you know how much pasta you want to make, and about what the ratio of noddles to toppings is.. right?)
-butternut squash
-one lemon
~5 garlic cloves
-basil to garnish and toss with pasta (to taste)
-whole wheat pasta
-ricotta cheese
-olive oil
-black pepper and salt

1.  Cut squash into fork size pieces.  Toss in olive oil and black pepper.  Grease a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350F.

2.  Boil water for pasta.

3.  Cook garlic cloves in olive oil on low heat.  Once they are soft, add in some lemon peel.  Cook for a few more minutes, then add lemon juice from one lemon.  Remove from heat, add in chopped basil, salt, and pepper.

4.  Cook pasta until it's soft.

5.  Toss pasta with lemonny garlic basil sauce and squash.  Top with a dollop of riccota.

Mmmmmm

Seriously delicious, and my squash mistake has led to my new addiction.  I've been eating roasted squash everyday for a week, and I still have some left to go.  I don't have the exact nutrition facts on this, but here's what I have:

Butternut squash (From nutritiondata.com): This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Magnesium, and a very good source of Vitamin A (we're talkin 450% of your daily value in 200g of this stuff!), Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2648/2#ixzz1HGFBrJIr

Fresh basil is particularly rich in vit K.

Ricotta cheese has quality protein, vit a, and calcium.

The pasta was amazing, the salad was pretty good.  Basically, I have become a fan of squash.  Also, because of the Vitamin B, C, A, and E, this food is great for skin.  Low on the glycemic index (as long as you use whole wheat pasta), this pasta is good for those watching their weight (maybe skip the ricotta, though).  Good stuff.