Sublime Squash

I love the expression on people’s faces when they take their first bite of this dish. It’s a look of pure joy, because this squash truly is sublime. From the moment I came up with this idea, I knew I had a winner!

Ingredients:

• Yellow squashes (the smaller, the better)

First topping:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, finely chopped

Second topping:

• 1/3 cup bread crumbs (I make them low carb by using crumbs from the low carb hot dog or hamburger buns)
• 3/4 cup shredded Italian cheese mix
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning or pizza seasoning (I get mine from a little Italian grocery store)

Directions:
I’ve tried baking this dish, but I prefer to do it by microwaving it, then broiling on the topping. The added bonuses are that you don’t have to wait for your oven to preheat and you don’t heat up the whole house. You can mix the first topping ingredients by hand or in a food processor.

Wash and dry your squash, then slice in half lengthways. Scoop out part of the insides.

In case you’re wondering how I get the insides out, I use a grapefruit spoon to scrape. It’s serrated and does a great job. Mix together your mayo, cream cheese, diced onion, and parmesan cheese. (I had some leftover from making Four Bit Goodies, so I started with that!) Chop your spinach. I chopped it coarsely at first. It’s colorful that way, but a little harder to get mixed in. Suit yourself. The cream cheese mixture keeps very well before you add the spinach to it. Once you add the spinach, it won’t last as long, I suspect, so if you’re only making a small batch of squash, you might hold off on adding the green stuff. Just add it to the part you’re actually going to be using that day.

Mix together the cream cheese mixture and the spinach. Stuff your squash with it and place the squash in a microwaveable casserole dish. Get your bread crumbs out and put them in a small bowl to start your second topping.

Add your Italian cheese to the bread crumbs, then your Italian seasoning/pizza topping and mix well.

Microwave the squash for 6 minutes or until tender. Remove them from the casserole dish and place on a baking pan. Top with the second topping. Broil for 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the topping is golden brown. Don’t overdo it — the bread crumbs in the topping will burn, and then you’re toast!

This is designed to be a side dish, but it would also be good as a light meal with a side salad to accompany it.