Recipe: Spaghetti Squash with Falafel & Lentil Patties

I share a lot of Paleo recipes on Freckled Italian, and while a lot of my snacks and side dishes are naturally vegetarian, I realize that I might sometimes alienate some of my vegan and vegetarian readers. So when Kate and Adam from The Florkens offered to contribute a vegetarian dinner recipe, I jumped at the chance to showcase something delicious from a different dietary lifestyle.

Spaghetti Squash with Falafel & Lentil Patties

Ingredients:

• One spaghetti squash
• Several tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 cup of cooked lentils
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• One 15-oz can of drained chickpeas
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon each of onion powder, cumin, and chili powder
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the insides, and season well with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for about an hour at 400.
2. In a food processor, combine the lentils, oatmeal, chickpeas, tahini, applesauce, garlic, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, and about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. If you have picky vegetable eaters in your family, this is a great stage to add any "secret ingredients," like broccoli. Blend until ingredients form a paste. (If it's too runny, you can add some more oats; if it's too dry, add a splash of water.)
3. Form the paste into patties and cook for three minutes on each side over medium heat in a bit of olive oil. Set patties aside.
4. Once your spaghetti squash has cooked and cooled enough to handle, use a fork to scrape the squash out into noodles. Heat another tablespoon or so of olive oil, add some garlic, and combine with the spaghetti squash over medium heat. Add the nutritional yeast and mix well.
5. Remove spaghetti squash from heat and plate with a couple of the patties. Enjoy!

Adam and Kate plan to share more vegetarian recipes on their blog in the future, but in the meantime, you can get to know them a bit more right here. Thanks so much for the recipe, you guys!