We had a very late spring this year, with hardly a single opportunity to harvest mushrooms, until my daughter-in-law, April and I were hiking on a very popular trail near Willingdon Beach Campsite. I was really pleasantly surprised to see a tree covered with lovely oyster mushrooms. This dish was just one of the things I made with this free food.
1 spaghetti squash
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 cup oyster mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 large carrot
1 1/2 cup broth (I used chicken, but use veggie broth if you prefer)
4 oz soy cream cheese (or real cream cheese if you can tolerate it)
Preheat the oven to 375F. Wash the squash, cut in half width-wise for longer threads, or length-wise for short threads. Sprinkle with lots of salt and place cut side down in a baking dish with about 1" of water. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 35 - 45 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms well with a little brush, then wash with cool water. Slice into ribbons. Wash and cut the red pepper into long sticks. Wash, peel & grate the carrot.
Melt coconut oil in a medium sauce pan and add salt, 5 spice and cayenne. When the oil is melted, add the oyster mushrooms and cook over medium heat until they release their moisture and then continue to cook until most of the moisture has cooked off. Add the red pepper and cook just a couple minutes. Add the grated carrot and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the spaghetti squash is ready.
When the squash is tender, remove from oven and take it out of the pan very carefully. Don't do like I did and let it slip back into the pan of boiling water, splashing all over, and making me jump quite smartly. Let the spaghetti squash rest on a board while you complete the sauce.
Add the 4 oz of cream cheese, to the mushroom sauce. We use Tofutti "Better than Cream Cheese" because dairy really bothers Will's IBS. Stir gently and melt the cream cheese into the sauce. If it is too dry, add a bit more broth and if it is too moist, you can continue to simmer with the lid off.
Using an oven mitt in one hand to hold the hot squash, separate the strands of spaghetti squash into a bowl using a fork and some patience. Stir in the mushroom sauce.
I served this with "Wildwurst" I had made with venison & lamb. There were no complaints.
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