Green Spaghetti Squash

I found a bunch of cilantro, a few fronds of dill, and some parsley in the fridge so I decided to purée them into a version of chimichurri sauce and stir them into spaghetti squash.

I have to say, it worked very well.

The key is not to call it pesto. That makes diners imagine glorious piles of pasta with fragrant basil and garlic sauce. Green spaghetti squash would be a disappointment.

However, call it spaghetti squash with garlic butter, hazelnuts and green sauce, and it goes down very well.

I don't have a recipe, but this is what I did.

I washed a medium spaghetti squash, pierced it a few times with a knife, and baked it at 375°F for 45 minutes until it was soft. I cut it in half lengthwise and let it cool a bit. Then I scooped out the seeds and discarded them.

In the blender, I puréed cilantro, parsley and dill with a red jalapeño I pulled from the freezer, a little olive oil and a good amount of salt and pepper. Then I whirred in some water to make it more of a sauce than a paste.

I melted some butter in a skillet and added a couple of mashed cloves of garlic. I coarsely chopped a handful of hazelnuts and tossed them in when the garlic was fragrant.

I scooped the strands of spaghetti squash from their shell into the pot and tossed them in the garlic butter. Then I poured in the green sauce and stirred it together. I let it heat fully and then served it as a colorful and flavorful side.

Spiced Nuts

I experimented with Spiced Nuts this holiday season. I found that cooking them in the toaster oven is not a good idea (my squirrel friends are enjoying the burnt nuts), but that cooking them in a skillet with seasonings is easy and very flexible.

I was over-enthusiastic so I made both appetizer nuts and dessert nuts. (No one complained.) Both contain sugar, which as regular readers know is a no-no on this blog, but I used organic cane sugar and figured the holidays only come once a year so what the heck.

I used regular unblanched almonds for the Spicy Almonds and they held the spices well. For the Sugared Hazelnuts, I toasted them and rubbed off the skins in the time-honored manner, but I feel they would have held the seasonings just as well if I had left the skins on. I'll try that next year.

These nuts would be an excellent nibble at a New Year's celebration. Expect everyone to eat more of them than you could imagine.

Spicy Almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp red pepper flakes

grated zest of 1 orange

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 cups almonds

Stir together the sugar, salt, cumin, pepper flakes and orange zest. Mash together with the back of a spoon.

In a large skillet, warm the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until sizzling - 1-2 minutes.

Stir in a tablespoon of the sugar mixture. Toss and stir the almonds until the sugar melts and starts to glaze the nuts. Add more sugar and repeat the process until you've used all the sugar, and it is all melted and coating the nuts.

Tip the nuts out onto a cookie sheet, spread them apart, and let them cool. When the almonds are cool to the touch, break them apart as needed and store in an airtight container. In theory they will last a couple of weeks at room temperature.

Sugared Hazelnuts

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup shelled hazelnuts

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup sugar

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the hazelnuts and cook until sizzling.

Stir together the cinnamon, cloves and sugar. Add to the skillet a tablespoon at a time, stirring to melt the sugar. Continue with all but a couple of teaspoons of the spice mixture. When the nuts are well glazed turn them onto a cookie sheet to cool.

When cool, break the nuts into a bowl. Stir in the remaining sugar mixture.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts

Finley Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market has had excellent green beans this fall. The Finley children enjoy them raw. We've eaten them cooked but plain - simmered for 9 minutes in boiling water - no butter or salt or pepper required.

Cooking is really easy when you start with good produce.

The other night, however, I decided to dress up the green beans with some hazelnuts I found in the freezer and some mint and a lemon from the garden.

It is still an easy side dish - it can even be made ahead and served at room temperature - so it would be good for Thanksgiving.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts
1/4 cup hazelnuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb green beans

Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until they smell good and are golden when you break one open. Tip them onto a kitchen towel, and when they're cool enough to handle rub them with the towel to remove as many of the brown skins as possible. Chop coarsely and set aside. (This can be done hours or days ahead.)

Stir together the mint, lemon peel, lemon juice and salt. Whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add more salt if desired.

Cook the beans in boiling water until just cooked - 7-9 minutes.

Now you can choose whether to serve them right away as a warm vegetable side or later as a room-temperature salad.

I served them warm by tossing the beans with some of the dressing, putting them on a serving plate, and sprinkling the hazelnuts on top. I served the small amount of extra dressing on the side.

To serve them as a salad, when the beans are tender plunge them into ice water to cool, then drain and set aside. When ready to serve, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Serves 2-3