Black Bean Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash is a great vegetable to roast in the oven and then eat by itself, as a side dish, or mix with other ingredients for a tasty lunch or dinner. It's also a lighter and more popular alternative to spaghetti pasta, especially when watching carbohydrate intake.

It can be roasted in the oven within an hour. I usually set the temp. to 200C / 425F and roast cut-side-down on a baking tray for 40-45 mins. I then turn the squash cut-side-up for the last 5 minutes.
Lots of recipes call for olive oil but I find a light spray of cooking oil and some seasoning - ground black pepper - is perfect. Once the squash is tender, using a fork, the flesh can easily be scraped out in long strands. More black pepper seasoning,  plus a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and/or parsley is very complementary.

The recipe below bakes the squash in the oven using water which helps the speed of cooking. Spices and traditional Mexican ingredients (black beans, corn, jalapeño pepper, cilantro) are cooked in a pan and mixed with the spaghetti squash. The dish tastes great served warm but is also ideal as a cold on-the-go snack!

It's diary free, gluten and wheat free, vegetarian, high fiber and 100% delicious!

Black Bean Spaghetti Squash
Makes 4

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:

- 950g / 34oz / 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

- 5ml / 1tsp olive oil

- 110g / 4oz red onion, chopped

- 30g / 1oz / 1 medium jalapeño pepper, minced

- 85g / 3oz red pepper, chopped

- 250g / 9oz black beans, drained (no added salt)

- 90g / 3oz sweet corn

- 1tsp chili powder

- 15ml / 1tbsp lime juice

- fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Method: 

Place the squash in a baking dish, cut-side-down. Add 1/2cup (120ml) water to the dish and cook in the oven at 190C / 375F for 30-40 minutes until the flesh is tender. Rake the flesh with a fork. Set aside.

Whilst the squash is cooking in the oven, in a pan heat the oil and cook the onion, jalapeño and red pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes. 

Add the black beans, sweet corn and chili powder and cook for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the cooked squash, lime juice and cilantro. ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Cashew Queso

Quick Spanish lesson.
Queso = Cheese.
Chile con Queso = Chile with Cheese.

Chile con queso, also referred to simply as queso, is a popular Tex-Mex dish. It's a creamy cheese dip that also contains chili peppers. It's usually served with tortilla chips and eaten as an appetizer. Traditional cheeses used to make queso include Queso Oaxaca (asadero) and Monterey Jack.
An authentic recipe can be found here. Here are some images from Google.

My cashew queso is cheese-free! Hard to make a cheese dip with the 'queso' but this version is just as creamy and cheesy and perfect for people who don't eat dairy.

Cashew Queso
Makes 10 (50g per serving)
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:
- 112g / 4oz cashews
- 2 cloves garlic

- 60g / 2oz avocado
- 140g / 5oz red pepper, chopped

- 110g / 4oz green pepper, chopped

- 30g / 1oz / 1 jalapeño, chopped
- 30ml / 2tbsp lime juice
- 15ml / 1tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2tsp cumin
- 64g / 8tbsp nutritional yeast

Method:
In a food processor blend the cashews and garlic.

Add the avocado, chopped red and green pepper, jalapeño, lime juice and apple cider vinegar.
Blend altogether.

Add the cumin and nutritional yeast.

Blend together until smooth and creamy. Serve with baked corn tortillas or chopped vegetables.
ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Margarita Chicken with Avocado and Mango Salsa

I think mangos are becoming the perfect summer fruit - so far I've made sorbet, ice pops and now this salsa.
I have another recipe for mango chicken stir fry which I plan to make in the near future. However, I'll happily make this dish several more times throughout the summer as it's delicious hot or cold.

I ate it with freshly cooked rice and grilled chicken straight from the BBQ. Sadly there weren't any left overs but I think it'll be perfect the following day mixed together and eaten cold - a great summer salad alternative. The salsa is so colourful and has a great texture and taste combination: buttery avocados, smooth and sweet mangos, crunchy red peppers, fresh tomatoes, citrusy limes and aromatic cilantro.

I don't have any tequila at present so I gladly used margarita mix to marinade the chicken. Perhaps in the future, if I want to drink a margarita, I'll hold back on the margarita mix and simply marinade the chicken in lime or lemon juice.

I always like to cut the chicken breast into pieces and skewer them instead of grilling whole breasts on the BBQ. I think smaller pieces of meat absorb more of the marinade, but this is just my preference.

Margarita Chicken with Avocado and Mango Salsa
Makes 4
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:
Marinade
- 530g / 19oz chicken breast, chopped into bite-size pieces

- 120ml / 4floz margarita mix (I use skinny/light variety), non-alcoholic

- 30ml / 2tbsp lime juice

- 1/2tbsp red pepper flakes

- 5g / 1/4cup cilantro, fresh

Salsa

- 140g / 5oz avocado, chopped
- 185g / 6.5oz mango, chopped
- 140g / 5oz tomato, chopped
- 185g / 6.5oz red pepper, chopped
- 5g / 1/4cup cilantro, fresh and chopped
- 30ml / 2tbsp lime juice
- 15ml / 1tbsp olive oil


Method:
Place the chopped chicken breast in a bowl and add the margarita mix, lime juice, red pepper flakes and cilantro. Mix gently and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Once marinated, place the chicken pieces on to skewers and grill for approx. 20 minutes until cooked.

Whilst the chicken is cooking, make the salsa by adding the avocado, mango, tomato, red pepper, cilantro to a bowl and stirring in the lime juice and oil.

Serve with rice. ENJOY!
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Avocado Hummus

First time using cannellini beans, also known as white kidney beans. I have a red kidney bean hummus recipe I want to make, but after discovering an avocado in the fridge, which needed eating, I decided to make this avocado hummus. It's a nice alternative to my other varieties of hummus / dips (including guacamole).

I didn't add any olive oil to this version of hummus as the avocado gives the dip a smooth and creamy taste. The avocado contains healthy fats, so there's no need to add more fat with oil. Cannellini beans are high in protein and fibre and low in fat. They are popular in Tuscan and other Italian cuisine. When combined with the avocado, this is a great macronutrient dip!

Avocado Hummus
Makes 5 (66g per serving)

Ingredients:
- 60g / 2oz avocado
- 425g / 15oz / 1 can cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
- 15ml / 1tbsp bean juice
- 60ml / 4tbsp lime juice AND/OR lemon juice
- 5g / 1/4cup cilantro, fresh

Method:
Drain the can of cannellini beans, retaining 1 tablespoon of juice.
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend together.

Spoon into a container for storage.
Serve with chopped vegetables or baked corn tortillas. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information:

Guacamole

Another great dip for avocado lovers! I recently highlighted a few benefits of avocados in my Sunshine Muffins recipe post. Avocados are a good source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, making them a great substitute for foods high in saturated fat. They also contain magnesium which is good for bone health and muscle and nerve function, in addition to assisting with sleep. A G&T is a refreshing accompaniment with guacamole, which may also assist with sleep!

Some basic general knowledge about guacamole (thanks to Wikipedia) reveals it was made by the Aztecs by at least the 16th century. The name comes from an Aztec dialect via Nahuatl āhuacamolli, which literally translates to "avocado sauce", from āhuacatl ("avocado") and molli ("sauce", literally "concoction").

Baked tortillas go perfectly with guacamole. It's easy to buy fresh flour or corn tortillas, cut them into triangles, spray them with a little cooking spray and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes at 175C / 350F - turning after 10 minutes.

Whilst flour tortillas are super tasty, corn tortillas are a better choice in terms of nutritional value. Corn tortillas are lower in calories, have less fat, fewer sugars and more fibre. Corn tortillas generally have less sodium than flour too. As an added bonus, corn tortillas are smaller so one serving typically allows for two corn tortillas where as one flour tortilla equals one serving.
This infographic also offers a nice comparison summary.

Flour (L) Corn (R) Tortillas

Guacamole
Makes 4, 85g servings
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:
- 200g / 7oz / 2 medium avocados, mashed
- 15ml / 1tbsp lime juice
- 1/2tsp cumin
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 50g / 1.8oz - jalapeno. seeded and diced
- 140g / 5oz tomato, seeded and diced
- 1tbsp cilantro, fresh and chopped (optional)
- 1 clove garlic, crushed

Method:
In a bowl, mix the avocados, lime juice, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

Stir in the jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic.

Refrigerate for 1 hour for best flavour, or serve immediately. ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Black-Eyed Peas Hummus

Another 'hummus' dip but instead of using chickpeas or black beans, this recipes uses a can of black-eye peas and lime juice. I also had some fresh cilantro which I added instead of spices.

All three kinds of hummus dip featured in this blog are quite similar in their nutritional content - about 100 calories per ~65g / ~2oz serving. They don't have any cholesterol and contain less than 1g sugar, if any at all! 13g carbohydrates and 4-6g protein, with black-eyed peas offering a little more protein than chickpeas or black beans. The chickpea hummus has a little more fat, due to the 2tbsp olive oil. 1tbsp oil can be replaced with a tablespoon of bean juice or water to keep fat at 3g per serving.

I prefer to use canned beans with no added salt but sometimes I can't get all varieties of beans with low sodium. The black bean hummus only has 7mg sodium per serving whereas the other two dips have ~170mg per serving. No added salt makes a big difference in nutritional health and very little difference in flavour.

Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
Makes 5 (67g per serving)

Ingredients:
- 440g / 15.5oz / 1 can black-eyed peas
- 15ml / 1tbsp black-eyed peas juice
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 15ml / 1tbsp olive oil
- 45ml / 3tbsp lime juice
- 5g / 1/4cup cilantro, fresh and chopped

Method:
Drain the can of black beans, retaining 1 tablespoon of juice.
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend together.

Spoon into a container for storage.
Serve with chopped vegetables. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information: