Spaghetti squash garbage plate
I am originally from Western New York, specifically from the small town of Elba located half way in between Buffalo and Rochester. During college, trips to Rochester usually consisted of either a trip to the mall, a trip to the Great Great House of Guitars, or a trip to Nick Tahou’s for their signature Garbage Plate.
A garbage plate is basically a mess of various different foods. There are several variations in the Western New York area, everything from ethnic to vegan, but all share the common theme of a plate piled high with things that taste great together but don’t necessarily make the greatest looking dish. People who like all their foods separated with plenty of space would have a stroke at the sight of a garbage plate, so it is best if those folks stay away from said plate.
Last night I came up with an interesting garbage plate of my own, a combination of a bunch of summer vegetables and some things from the fridge. It ended up being a bunch of baked spaghetti squash from Hanchey’s (42 miles), some sauteed sweet and hot peppers from Black River (45 miles), two fried eggs from Grassy Ridge (19 miles) followed by some goat feta cheese (30 miles) and finally a few scoops of homemade sauerkraut. The result was amazing. It would have been more amazing if I had used the hollowed out spaghetti squash as my bowl, just like Jennie at Straight From the Farm is fond of doing.
The recipe is really really basic, with the only necessary part being the spaghetti squash. The other ingredients are totally up to you. So I will simply show you the easiest ways to bake a spaghetti squash.
Option #1: To bake it whole, punch a few holes in the squash and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.
Option #2: A halved squash cooks faster. Cut squash in half, scoop out the seeds then place hollow side down on a baking sheet with a 1/4 inch of water. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Once the baking is over, scoop out the strands of squash and combine with your own list of garbage plate ingredients. Try some vinegar, collards and cherry tomatoes or black beans and rice. Try apples and honey or butter, basil and chicken. Spaghetti squash is very adaptable to whatever you throw at it, so pile on the garbage…
August 15, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Excellent shout out to our old trips to Nick Tahou’s, but it would have been great to see your final squash garbage plate!
August 15, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Yes, I would have taken a picture but by the time I thought of it, all that was left was the hull of the squash. Next time…
August 29, 2007 at 11:17 am
You’re so sweet to mention lil’ ol’ mio in your post, Trace. I’m liking this idea of a garbage plate…I’ve not seen it in a restaurant before but it’s a pretty accurate description of most dinners at my house.
Ya know, for all the cooking and baking I do, I’ve never made a spaghetti squash. Weird, huh? I’d better get on that!