Roasted veggie salad!!

Ok, just made up a super yummy veggie salad today. I got a spaghetti squash in my CSA box and I needed to do something with it. I'm not a huge spaghetti squash fan, but I would happily make this salad any day!

Last night I roasted a yellow and red bell pepper in the oven. To roast a pepper (WAY better than store bought) is very easy. I just stuck both peppers on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 degrees. I turned them over after about 15 mins and then after that point I turned them a little about every 5 mins or so for about 35 mins. I then put them in a bowl and covered it in seran wrap. The condensation helps the peels come off easily. Once they were nice and cool, I peeled the peppers and removed the seeds and stems. I reserved the liquid at the bottom of the bowl and put the peeled peppers back in the bowl once done. Since I did that part last night I just recovered the bowl and put it in the fridge for today.

Next I went ahead and roasted the spaghetti squash whole (pierce it all over with a sharp knife so it doesn't explode, cook it for about an hour at 400). Cut it open, scoop out the seeds and pulp (you can save the seeds and roast them on a pan with some salt just like pumpkin seeds!). Scoop out the flesh and set aside in a bowl.

Today I took about 1/2 an eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1/2"-1/4" cubes. I also minced 2 cloves of garlic and chopped 1/2 an onion (into 1/2 chunks). I tossed all of this on a cookie sheet with olive oil and a little bit of salt and roasted at 400 degrees for maybe 30 mins, flipping everything about half way through.

While the eggplant was roasting I sauteed some mushrooms. I normally slice my mushrooms but this time I cut the shrooms up in 6ths or so, about 1/2" chunks. I like so saute my mushrooms in a bit of olive oil, soy sauce and butter.

Now for the salad. I chopped about 2/3's of the peppers I roasted last night up and tossed them on top of the spaghetti squash. I also poured some of the juice in. (I reserved the rest for some tasty Italian sausage melts I plan on making tomorrow.) Next I poured the mushrooms in, along with the juice they were sitting in. I pulled the eggplant mixture from the oven and scraped everything right into the spaghetti squash bowl. I sliced several basil leaves and added this in to mixture along with a bunch of feta and a little bit of lemon juice!

Seriously, the salad is a little bit of heaven! It was soooo good! This salad makes me look at spaghetti squash in a whole new light! And if you really don't want to do the spaghetti squash you can always sub some orzo or quinoa in there. But I think the spaghetti squash makes this veggie salad extra light and fresh. Perfect for the summer!

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
About 10 basil leaves
Feta cheese
1 spaghetti squash
1/2-1 small eggplant (peeled)
1 1/2-2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
About 10 white mushrooms (or your favorite kind of mushroom)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a large yellow onion
Soy sauce and butter for the mushrooms
1/4-1/2 of a lemon

I paired my salad with some yummy homemade pizza, YUM!!

I promise to be better!!

I've been so bad! It's been forever since I've posted! And I've been cooking! I've been making cheese, and butter, and even a little baking! I recently discovered that I actually LIKE eggplant, especially farm fresh eggplant! I finally got the guts to drink raw milk-AND I liked it! I have TONS of great recipes I should have been sharing this whole time! And rhubarb! Why did I only just recently taste rhubarb for the first time??!? I've been gardening and growing gorgeous tomatoes, peas, cucumbers (well, the cucumbers haven't done so hot, I only grew 2 and now the plants are looking awfully sad), and I have about 40 green bean plants going nuts!

So, my friends, I promise to be better about posting at least once a week!
(bear with me while I try to figure out why my pictures aren't showing up correctly!)