Me? Write a cookbook?

Well, after deciding a meal my husband made was too pretty to eat and took out my new studio lights to take pictures – I was hooked. I have awakened a new passion the past few days to design recipes and artistically and visually capture the love I have for food, cooking, and a SOUL (seasonal, organic, unprocessed and local) lifestyle.

Want to take this journey with me?

I am sure over the next year, I will be posting some of my favorite recipes accompanied by what a friend of mine recently dubbed “food porn” – a photograph of the finished product. Foods will be sourced locally, even from as hyper local as our own garden.

To tide you over, here is a recipe my husband and I put together this past weekend!

Herbed Spaghetti Squash

Makes 4 servings

2 small spaghetti squashes
Olive oil
White pepper
Garlic powder
Cayenne powder

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Half the spaghetti squashes, scoop out the seeds, and flavor the halves with a teaspoon each of olive oil, white pepper, garlic and cayenne powders. Bake the squashes for 45 minutes.

 

4 mini bell peppers, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 half yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup peanuts

Put all three ingredients in a pan lightly coated with olive or peanut oil, and sauté over very low heat for 20 minutes. Season lightly with salt, as desired.

 

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, lightly chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, lightly chopped
2 tsp fresh oregano, lightly chopped

We were lucky and had all of these amazing ingredients in our own backyard garden, fresh from the soil. Nothing more amazing than fresh herbs fresh cut and still fragrant with sunshine! So however you get these lovely ingredients, put these ingredients together, and mix raw.

 

When done cooking, take the squash out of the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Next, take a fork and peel out the stringy “spaghetti” out of the squash, and place on a plate (about a cup each plate).

 

Next, place the toppings (both fresh and sautéed) as desired. Sprinkle lightly with some cayenne pepper for some color, and you have a gorgeous, filling meal on your plate. Enjoy!

 

 

Did you try out the recipe? What did you think?

I’d love to hear your comments below!