Recipe: $8.85 | Per Serving: $1.48 |Yield: 6
On a random Tuesday I thought it would be a great idea to buy a massive bag of mustard greens. They're nutritious! They're cheap! They're perfect. But...they're also spicy and bitter and sort of sour, and not the most versatile green ingredient. They taste terrible in smoothies (really really terrible), and they're nobody's first choice for salad greens. But with the right love, they're awesome. Really, I mean it. And this Creamy Spaghetti Squash with Sausage & Mustard Greens is the right kind of love.
I'm not sure what inspired this dish, but I just wanted to shake things up a little bit in the FN kitchen. For probably the first time in my life I decided to cook with cream cheese. I've made cream cheese icing about 472 times, because it's incredible, but I've never used it as a creamy component in a sauce. Creamy cream cheese and salty sausage are the perfect components to bitter & spicy mustard greens. Go ahead and pick up those random greens from the farmer's market, I've got you covered.
This dish is super light thanks to the spaghetti squash, but super flavorful thanks to the sausage. You can amp it up a bit with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and basil, as I was originally intending, or keep it simple with just garlic, sausage, cream cheese, and spaghetti squash. So basic, in the very best way.
Also, I took these pictures on a Saturday afternoon and I kind of hate them. I planned to try again Sunday morning, but that never happened. And then we just kept eating the leftovers so updated pictures never came. I'm still struggling to figure out the lighting in my apartment. I feel like I had a really good thing going with our awesome windows in Japan, but this apartment just doesn't have the right mojo for my photos. At least the food still tastes great.
For Paleo: Skip the cream cheese or substitute with cashew cream.
For Vegetarian: Skip the sausage. Season with homemade sausage seasoning instead.
And just like that...it's July! Have a great 4th of July weekend everybody!
Creamy Spaghetti Squash with Sausage & Mustard Greens
Ingredients
- 1 spaghetti squash about 4 pounds, or 4-6 cups cooked
- 8 ounces sausage try homemade!
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 Tablespoons cream cheese half an 8oz package
- ¼ cup water or broth
- 8 cups fresh kale or mustard greens
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti squash in the oven or microwave, according to your preferred method. (I usually cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, then place it cut-side-down in a large casserole dish. Add about ½ cup of water and bake on 400ºF for about 50 minutes, or until tender.) When the spaghetti squash is done, scoop out the strands with a fork or large spoon and set aside.
- Slice the sausage, or remove the casing and crumble it (my preference). In a large pan, brown the sausage, seasoning with the red pepper flakes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, then add the cream cheese and broth and stir until well combined and creamy. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the kale and cover for about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove lid and stir well. Season with salt to taste, then mix in the spaghetti squash. Mix well, then taste and season again. Serve!
- Optional: top with some Parmesan cheese or fresh herbs.
Nutrition
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