Sometimes I get into a food funk and find myself not eating enough vegetables for a week or two (maybe that’s you all the time). It’s really easy to get out of the vegetable eating routine–you eat sandwiches instead of salads for lunch, and hit up one of your go-to quick meals of macaroni and cheese or pizza a few too many times in a week. Then you make excuses about how you usually eat healthy, and it’s no big deal. Well, not getting in your veggies is a big deal! And it’s never too late to make a few simple swaps to bump up your veggie intake. What helps is having some tasty vegetable-packed recipes that are simple to prepare. I love this Mediterranean spaghetti squash recipe. Normally I would prepare it with whole wheat orzo instead of the spaghetti squash, but like I mentioned before, I was seriously lacking my vegetables. The spaghetti squash instead of pasta was actually a really tasty trade-off, and I ate a bowl full of delicious vegetables!
This meal keeps things simple–you can chop up your vegetables while your chicken and squash cook. There is no sauce or dressing to prepare; all the flavor comes from mixing in a few spices. Top the meal off with some feta, and voila, you are done. So no excuses this coming week–eat your vegetables!
{Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash with Chicken & Feta}
A delicious vegetable packed meal. It’s naturally low in carbohydrates, and high in flavor. The spices combine with the olive oil from the squash and chicken to make a super light but flavorful dressing.
Servings: 3
Ingredients
2 lb spaghetti squash
1 lb chicken breast
1 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 medium avocado
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
Directions
Cut the spaghetti squash in half, remove seeds, and place cut side up on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Rub 1 tsp of olive oil onto the cut sides and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper for flavor. Bake for 30 minutes at 450 F. The squash is done when the surface is easily pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, cut chicken into 1 in cubes. Heat a skillet over medium high heat with remaining olive oil and cook chicken until done. I like to let the skillet get nice and hot, and then I resist the urge to stir the chicken for about 3-5 minutes until it gets nice and brown on one side, then flip the chicken and let the other side brown.
Halve the tomatoes, dice the cucumber and avocado, and then combine in a big bowl with the feta, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in cooked chicken. Once your spaghetti squash is done run a fork along the surface to form your “spaghetti” noodles and combine with vegetable and chicken mixture. Plate and eat!
Nutrition info per serving: 444 cal, 22 g fat, 21 g carb, 43 g protein, 7 g fiber
