“Smitten” with Moroccan Spaghetti Squash

Monday’s dinner was Middle Eastern Chickpea Burgers (inspired by this Cooking Light recipe and this EatingWell recipe). I used presoaked chickpeas and cooked them earlier in the afternoon rather than using canned. ($.69 per pound versus $1 per can.)

Using Old Bessie (my way-too-small food processor), I pureed the chickpeas, fresh parsley, zata'ar, spices, lemon rind, garlic, 1 egg, salt/pepper, smoked paprika, cumin and about 1 TB flaxmeal.

I formed them into patties and cooked over medium high heat in about 1 TB olive oil. Frankly, they turned out too dry although they held together well. I loved the lemon zest; it made the flavor of the spices zing. I served it without a bun or fixings and it would have been better with a bun (naturally!), a fresh tomato, and a lot more tahini dressing to add moisture.

This recipe from Smitten Kitchen was the highlight of my dinner and certainly opens the doorway to using up my spaghetti squash invasion.

I used less butter than the recipe called for even though it was still a ton! I also omitted coriander because I don’t have it yet – it’ll go on my Christmas Wish List, so I added more of the other spices to make up for it. As for the garlic, I used my Vampireless Roasted Garlic cloves. Because I was short on time (as always), I microwaved the squash rather than roasted it.

Holy Butter Batman!

My improvised and somewhat random version:

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) spaghetti squash
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 roasted garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground chile powder (medium heat)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat butter and add garlic. Add spices (except for cilantro) and then scoop in cooked and seeded squash. Toss with spiced butter and cilantro.

Ta Da! A Middle Eastern Chickpea Burger, topped with tahini and a dollop of red pepper tapenade.