Spaghetti Squash Fritters by Aubree Beckman

I have a treat this month. My youngest daughter, Aubree, has once again done a guest blog for me and shared her recipe for Spaghetti Squash Fritters. She's a wonderful cook and I'm a very proud mom.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Hello Again! It's Aubree once again guest blogging. For those of you who don't know, I follow a grain free diet for health reasons (mostly because I am intolerant to ALL grains), and this makes finding good recipes and things to cook... interesting. The following recipe is from a Facebook post my wonderful mother found and shared with me, and I've adapted it over the years. I have added the original recipe at the bottom if you wish to makes these non-grain free. I have also made these paleo with coconut milk cheese, and they were still tasty. Now, without further ado, here is my recipe for Spaghetti Squash Fritters.

Spaghetti Squash Fritters

First, you need to cook a spaghetti squash. The original recipe states you need 3 cups of cooked spaghetti squash, but I don't really measure it and basically mess with the mixture until I like it.

To cook a spaghetti squash: Cut it in half, spoon out the middle (and keep the seeds to roast later :) ), sprinkle the halves with some avocado oil (or olive oil). Place the 2 halves cut side down on a baking tray (you can line it with parchment paper, foil, or a silicone baking sheet to decrease chance of burning the squash).

Cook the Squash at 400 degrees for 45-60 min, until the outside is slightly brown and soft.

Take it out of the oven and let it cool before scraping out the insides with a fork or spoon. I sometimes do this the day before and put it in the fridge overnight. The original recipe says to wring out the squash, but I don't like to do that part, so I've adapted to allow for a little more liquid.

Once you are ready to assemble your fritters, you'll put all of these ingredients together in a bowel.

Ingredients:

 - 2 eggs

- 2/3 cup of almond flour

-1/3 cup of coconut flour

- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach or kale

- 1 tablespoon of Arrowroot starch

- insides of a cook spaghetti squash

-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (you can use other hard cheeses, but don't use a soft cheese like cheddar, it makes a mess)

- 1/2 lb of cooked bacon, chopped

-seasonings to taste - I use salt, pepper, onion, garlic, parsley

- avocado oil and coconut oil for frying the fritters at about a 50/50 ratio.

In a bowel, mix all ingredients together until you can form a good patty shape. I mix with my hands for a better consistency and to make sure I can feel the right texture. At this point, if I need to I add a pinch of coconut flour if it's still too runny.

In a skillet, heat oils to hot, but not burning (about medium- medium high heat depending on your stove), and drop patties in. I cook them about 2-3minutes a side flipping them once.

And that's it, they are ready to eat!

In the original recipe, they top them with Greek yogurt, but I've never needed something on top.

On a side note, I fry them in a combo of avocado and coconut oil, but I have also cooked them in butter/ghee or olive oil. I prefer a mix of the 2 above, but feel free to experiment.

- I also like to throw some diced onions and sweet/mild peppers in the mix, and like my mother, I like to add random veggies.

I have also cooked these in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 min, and although they are still good, they are not as crispy.

Here is the original blogpost recipe- https://juliasalbum.com/bacon-spaghetti-squash-fritters-recipe/

Hope you enjoy!!!

Aubree

Eggplant and Potato Casserole

I love eggplant, it's considered a vegetable but it's actually a fruit.  It's so versatile and good for you.  My family is divided when it comes to eggplant, my husband and youngest daughter aren't fans but my oldest daughter, Tabitha and I love it.  I've been buying it at the farmers market for years, finely chopping or shredding it, keeping a baggie of it in the freezer and putting it almost everything I cook and since it's finely chopped it's indistinguishable.  It's a great way to stretch ground meat, it takes on the flavor of the meat it's cooked with. Tabitha and I have made stuffed eggplant before which we really liked but no one else would eat.  Recently, I saw a recipe on Cookist for an eggplant and potato dish that looked good so I tried it this weekend since Tabitha was home. It turned out so well and very yummy that I will defiantly be making this again.  The recipe called for the eggplant to be sliced, pricked with a fork and placed on a baking sheet and baked for 20 minutes to pre cook it.  The potatoes weren't pre cooked in the recipe and took about 45 minutes to get tender so next time I'm going to pre cook them along with the eggplant.  In the recipe video that I watched the eggplant, potatoes and cheese were all uniform sized and were put overlapping in a round baking dish and sliced like a pie when baked.  My vegetables were not uniform and I was using more of them to make enough for both Tabitha and I for lunches.  I layered mine in a rectangular baking pan starting with the eggplant, sliced block cheese, (I had bought a really nice herb cheese from the Norman Ok farmers market), potatoes, sprinkled olive oil and shredded cotija cheese and then did another layer. The recipe called for sliced scamorza (which is a type of mozzarella) and shredded Parmesan cheese but since I had the really nice block of herb blend and shredded cotija I just used that instead. You could really use any kind of cheese. I think a layer of sliced tomatoes would be good as well so next time I'm going to add them. I have jars of sofrito and fermented garlic paste in my refrigerator that I add to whatever I'm cooking so I added 1 teaspoon of each to the first layer when I drizzled the olive oil on.  It just gave it added flavor but there were a few pockets of garlic so next time I'm going to mix them in with the oil then add on top of the potatoes.

Here's the recipe:

Eggplant and Potato Casserole

3 to 4 medium to large eggplants, round ones work better, sliced 1/4 inch

6 to 8 new potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch

8 oz. block or ball of cheese, any flavor, like cheddar or mozzarella, (I used a herb blend),sliced

2 cups shredded Parmesan or cotija cheese

seasoned salt and Italian blend seasoning (I used Tastefully Simple Rustic herb seasoning)

4 T olive oil

1 t. sofrito, optional added to olive oil

Slice eggplant 1/4 inch thick, prick a couple of times with a fork.  Also slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick.  Place eggplant and potatoes on separate baking sheets, sprinkle with seasoned salt and Italian blend seasoning and bake at 350 for 20 minutes to par cook.  Let cool slightly. In baking dish, layer eggplant, sliced cheese and potatoes starting with eggplant.  Mix olive oil and sofrito (I added garlic paste as well) and sprinkle 1/2 over potatoes. Sprinkle 1/2 shredded cheese and repeat layers topping with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are done.

Optional, a layer of sliced tomatoes.

Enjoy,

Bamah