Paleo Spaghetti Squash Toss...

Like the rest of the U.S., we here in DC have been blessed with summer temperatures. In March. I bought meat for chili, but no one wants chili when it's 76 out. So, I tried to come up with summer recipes, found something that sounded good, tweaked it, and got this...

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

2 chicken breasts

1 medium tomato

1 can black olives

1 small onion

1/2 cup feta cheese

1 tsp olive oil

Garlic to taste

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds. Brush the inside of each half with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic, salt, pepper, etc.  Place the halves face down on a cookie sheet and bake for at least 30 minutes.  You will know it's done when you can pierce the outside skin with little resistance, or flip a half over and see if the flesh is tender. 

While the squash is cooking, do your prep work. Slice the olives and dice the tomatoes and onion.

Once done slicing, dice the chicken. I find it's easiest to get bite-sized slivers if I cut the breasts while they're raw, using my totally awesome Wusthoff chef's knife. 

I found it easiest to wait until the squash was out of the oven before I started the chicken portion. The squash needs time to cool, which can lead to too much down time. You do not need or want to serve this dish piping hot. Do whatever works best for you and your kitchen time management. 

Once the squash pieces are cooled, use a fork to scrape out the fleshy parts. You can scrape in any direction, it will still come out in spaghetti-like strands. I suggest you scrape directly into the serving bowl.

Now, put the chicken pieces into a pan with just a little olive oil. Just enough to keep it from sticking. Cook through.

Add the diced onion and cook until the onion is just tender. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are just heated (I like my tomatoes to stay firm, so I suggest you do not overcook).

Add the chicken, tomatoes, and onions to the spaghetti squash. Add the tsp. of olive oil and your desired amount of garlic. Toss. Add the feta and olives and toss again. 

Serve!  It isn't the prettiest dish ever, but it got glowing reviews from two hungry men.