By October. My favorite month and Liam's first. I want to take him to every fall thing—the orchard was last week, now the pumpkin patch, the corn maze in the fall that we used to do in college. Sean reminded me that a seven-month-old cannot navigate a corn maze and I said I'd carry him through it and Sean said "that's not really the point of a corn maze" and I said "it's exactly the point of a corn maze" and we went to the pumpkin patch in Marshfield on Saturday and Liam sat in a wagon surrounded by small pumpkins and looked like a very small harvest king.
The photos from Saturday. I've been taking photos every day since he was born but the October ones are different—the light, the color, the smallness of him against all that autumn. I printed a set at the pharmacy and put them on the fridge with magnets and now every time I open the fridge I see my son in a pumpkin patch and I think about the fact that I used to open this fridge alone and now this is what's on it.
Liam ate butternut squash puree this week and reacted as though it was the greatest substance on earth. He practically climbed out of the high chair toward the spoon. I made extra and froze it in ice cube trays the way the baby food books suggest, which I'd resisted doing because it seemed fussy, and now I understand why: it's not fussy, it's a hedge against the days when you don't have time to cook for a baby at six-thirty PM after a ten-hour shift. Past-me makes food. Present-me reheats it. The collaboration continues.
Liam wasn’t the only one with squash on the brain this week. While he was busy making a case for butternut as the world’s greatest food, I found myself wanting something in the same fall family for dinner—something that tasted like October without requiring more than forty-five minutes of hands-off oven time. This salsa spaghetti squash has become my answer to those six-thirty PM weeknights: it’s filling and seasonal, the prep is minimal, and the whole thing feels like a small celebration of the same harvest-table spirit that had Liam sitting in that wagon surrounded by pumpkins.
Salsa Spaghetti Squash
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 lbs)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups chunky salsa (store-bought or homemade)
- 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
- 1 avocado, diced (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil.
- Prep the squash. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds and stringy center.
- Season and roast. Brush the cut sides of each half with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 40–45 minutes, until the flesh is tender and easily pierced with a fork.
- Shred the squash. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Flip the halves cut-side up. Use a fork to scrape the flesh into long, spaghetti-like strands, keeping them inside the squash shell.
- Add toppings. Spoon the salsa evenly over both halves. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Return to oven for 5 minutes, until cheese is melted and salsa is warmed through.
- Finish and serve. Top with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado if using. Serve directly from the shell.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 215 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 510mg