Shana Tovah everyone! I hope you are having a good Fall and beginning to your holiday season!

It’s been a tough year, and 5777 perhaps didn’t bring with it all the promise and renewal we thought it would. I hope that, in this new year, we all have opportunities for positive change and growth. May we also have the strength and opportunity to create change in the world at large.

A lot has happened in my life since I started writing for the JWA last Rosh Hashanah––I’ve started a Yeshiva fellowship program, moved, and had the opportunity to see many friends and family members get married. One thing that hasn’t changed is my love of Jewish food and the joy in writing about it.

This recipe is a stress-free side dish to complement your holiday meal. It is a simple, quick, vegan parve recipe that can go with a dairy or meat meal. This will also be good cold, if you need a good dish for the second night of Rosh Hashanah or Shabbat dinner!

There’s also a lot of wiggle room with the recipe, so if you decide to mix up the spices or add in some parmesan for a dairy meal, go wild! You’ve earned it. Put on the new season of Broad City or old episodes of 30 Rock before they are taken off of Netflix and start cooking! Serves 8 (double for larger meal)

Ingredients:

2 spaghetti squashes

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes

5 handfuls fresh spinach

4 cloves garlic

4 green onions

Several pinches red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Olive Oil for roasting and sauteing

Equipment:

2 Baking sheets

Frying pan

Serving bowl

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375° degrees.

The only difficult part of this recipe is cutting open the spaghetti squashes (length-wise). They are large, tough squashes and we are only human. I spent some time looking up best techniques for cutting these up. Using an extremely sharp knife, poke incisions every inch or so around the length of the squash. If your knife is sharp enough, you will be able to connect these incisions and cut through the rest of the squash. If not, after making the incisions, microwave the squash for 1-2 minutes. Once it’s softened, try cutting through again. Once you have cut through the squash, scrape out the seeds and pulp in the very center.

Put cut squash face down on a baking sheet and put in the oven, setting a timer for 45 minutes.

Rinse and dry your tomatoes! Pour then onto a small baking sheet. Pour 2 tbsp. of olive oil over the sheet and toss the tomatoes around to coat them. Sprinkle salt and pepper over and toss again around the sheet. Place in the oven with the squashes and roast for 15 minutes.

Chop garlic, green onions, and parsley. While the parsley only goes on later, I find it best to get all of your chopping done at once.

Make sure your spinach is on hand, rinsed, and ready to go.

Pour 2 tbsp. of olive oil into medium frying pan and turn on medium heat. Heat oil for 30-60 seconds then add in garlic and green onions. Stir them in the pan to prevent burning or sticking until they are lightly browned and fragrant, at least 4-5 minutes.

Once you’ve mostly cooked the garlic and onion, start adding in handfuls of spinach. This will take a few rounds of adding spinach then stirring it around to reduce it in order to make it all fit. Spinach cooks down to basically nothing, so what seems like a lot is actually an extremely reasonable amount. Keep a close eye on the spinach–– it only takes a couple of minutes to cook down in the pan.

Stir in pepper flakes and cayenne.

At this point, the tomatoes should be ready to be taken out of the oven. Once the tray is cool enough to handle, add the tomatoes into the frying pan, along with their juices. Sautee this all together. Turn off flame until you’re ready to deal with the spaghetti squash.

Take the squash pan out of the oven when finished. Let them cool for a few minutes. Either wait until they are actually cool enough to handle, or use a system of oven mitts to turn them over. This is where spaghetti squash gets fun: using a fork, scrape out the insides of the squash. The instant strings of squash that appear are where the squash gets its name and its most unique quality.

Pour spaghetti squash into the frying pan and stir entire meal together for 2-3 minutes. Transfer into a bowl, garnish with parsley, and enjoy! I ate this right after making it but it reheats well and makes a hearty side meal for any guest, vegetarian or otherwise!

Here’s to a Happy and Sweet New Year, and see you all in 5778!