Spaghetti Squash Peanut "Noodles"

Bear with me. This is one of my more peculiar combinations, but I swear this adulterated version of pad thai works.

That is, as I sit here sipping on a green smoothie packed with spinach that tastes a bit more like salad in a cup than the soymilk or peaches accompanying it.

This dish manifested from a post-workout, late evening hunger surge that a bowl of cereal usually squelches. But my latest efforts to purge cabinets of random jars, boxes, and packages of half-eaten content left me with no cereal; instead, the fridge contained some sour buttermilk (I tossed that immediately!) a bowl full of cooked spaghetti squash in all its stringy glory, one scoop of peanut butter left in the jar, half a lime, and some beans.

This dish requires a bit more imagination but you'll like it. The buttermilk has no role, except that it functioned as one of the extraneous ingredients I still hand hanging around in the refrigerator, and like I said, was deposited in the trash.

Let's talk spaghetti squash for a moment. My first experience with it surprised me. I cut the giant lemonade-colored orb in half, expecting a texture of uncooked spaghetti, but found the texture of butternut squash. It amazed me that when cooked properly, the flesh breaks up into a texture quite similar to spaghetti. I know, it's the little things.

Spaghetti Squash Peanut Noodles 
(for one)

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash, broken up with a fork
1 cup kale, ribbon cut
1/4 cup peanuts
2 heaping Tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp sesame oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup cranberry beans, cooked

Combine squash, kale and beans and mix together. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice and oil and drizzle over squash mixture. In this case, squash, kale and beans were leftovers, so I reheated in the microwave for 1 minute. In a small saute pan, roast peanuts for 5 minutes, or until browning and fragrant. Sprinkle peanuts on top of dish.

Question of the Day: Any weird combinations of food that are working for you lately?