Question: What Is An Inexpensive Idea For Dinner?
By: Melissa Peterman
Published: January 28, 2010

Would like to make a healthy dinner that is pretty cheap to make. I eat everything.

Answers:
Curt

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with hearty Red Sauce Pre-heat oven to 375...cut top & bottom off spaghetti squash and split it in half. Be careful when splitting it. Take out seeds and stuff. Rub the squash flesh and skin with olive oil and place flesh down on a sheet pan and into the oven. Takes about 45 minutes. Check it along the way and brush some more olive oil on it....keeping it flesh down. When it starts to get tender (penetrate a knife blade into the flesh) and the skin begins to get brown you can flip it over and let it roast another 10 minutes or so. It will carmalize a bit. Check it's final doneness with a fork. The flesh should flake out in strings (like spaghetti!!!). Using a towel or something so you don't burn your hand...hold the squash and fork the flesh out....you will notice the grain of the flesh...it works best to go against the grain. You should be able to take all the flesh right to the skin out. Season it with ks&p (kosher salt & pepper) and whatever herbs you like (basil works well with the red sauce) and a bit more olive oil. Garlic infused olive oil is nice too. 
While the squash is roasting either fix up a good bottled red sauce by adding pesto, more garlic & fresh basil. Or make your own with canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, ks&p. If you want protein....add some ground turkey or buffalo...good lean meat. Make it a meat sauce. That's how I like it best.
Curt

Last night I cut up broccoli, cauliflower, yellow onion, green onion, red & orange bell pepper, mushrooms, snow peas, garlic (all from my weekly CSA box) and added some shelled edamame...stir fried it in a little olive oil, finished it with a bit of kalbi marinade and Thai sweet chile sauce and served it over organic brown basmati rice cooked in chicken stock.  Simple, cheap & healthy!