Fall is my favorite time of year! Crisp leaves, apple cider, cable knit sweaters – love for all things brown, orange and goldenrod abound. I stumbled upon this recipe while searching for our week’s menu. I normally don’t go above and beyond for our veggies, but I couldn’t resist with this one – and it was sooooo worth it!

Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin

1 large spaghetti squash
2 T olive oil
2 t Seasoning salt
1 large onion, diced small
1/2 t Tony’s Creole seasoning (optional)
1/2 t dried thyme leaves
ground black pepper to taste
1 T minced garlic
16 oz. chopped chard leaves (about 5-6 cups)
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese curds
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese plus about 1/4 cup more for topping the gratin
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Cut off the stem and blossom end of the squash, stand upright, and using a large knife, carefully cut in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out seeds and discard. Rub cut sides of squash with about 1/2 T olive oil for each half, then sprinkle each with 1 tsp. Seasoning salt or other seasoning of your choice. Put squash on baking sheet and pour 1/4 cup water around bottom of squash (prevents burning). Roast squash about 45-50 minutes, or until it separates easy into strands. Let squash cool for a few minutes, then shred into strands.

While squash cooks, wash chard leaves if needed dry with paper towel. In two batches, stack up chard leaves and slice into thin ribbons.

Heat 1 T olive oil in frying pan, add chopped onions, season with Tony’s seasoning, dried thyme, and black pepper, and saute until onion is softened, about 2-3 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook about 1 min more, then add chard. Cook chard about 1-2 minutes, turning a few times until it’s wilted to about half the size it was. Turn off heat.

Put 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese in a fine strainer and rinse with cold water until only the cheese curds remain, drain. Spray a glass dish with non-stick spray or olive oil.

Using a large fork, gently mix the shredded spaghetti squash into the chard mixture. Combine the sour cream, drained cottage cheese curds, Parmesan cheese, and beaten egg and mix into the chard/spaghetti squash mixture. Then put the combined ingredients into the glass dish, and press down. Sprinkle top with 1/4 cup more Parmesan cheese.

Bake about 30-35 min, or until the mixture is bubbling and cheese is browned on top. Serve hot.

Original recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen.