Spaghetti Squash Primavera with Pesto Cream Sauce

If someone had told me 10 years ago that one of my favorite meals as an adult would be comprised 100% of vegetables, I would have given them the “you’re crazy” look. And if they added that I would be growing most of those vegetables in my own garden, I would have declared that they were certifiably off-their-rocker-insane. Me? Grow vegetables… and then eat them?! Oh, the horror!

But life is full of curve balls and somewhere along the way I fell in love with vegetables. I actually look forward to eating them now (shocking, I know). Maybe it’s a normal part of growing up, maybe it’s because I’m more health conscious now, but I think it’s mostly because I’ve finally figured out how to make them taste pretty darn good! I also discovered that my mom’s green thumb and love for gardening was passed down to me (thank you mom)!

Every spring I look forward to the day that the garden gets planted. We have a teeny, tiny, postage-stamp-sized yard so it’s been a challenge figuring out how to grow a decent sized garden. Each year, the garden takes over more and more of the back yard. Pretty soon it’s going to be one big zucchini patch out there!

I’m fairly certain that the gardening gene has also been inherited by our oldest son. He’s 5 now and loves to help in the garden (sometimes he’s a little over zealous with the pruning, but I love his enthusiasm). This year he even helped me prepare the soil and plant our garden. Together, he and I managed to plant the largest garden we’ve had so far! It’s been fun watching our plants grown and the vegetables slowly ripen.

Today I’m sharing with you my garden, and one of my most favorite meals of all time- Spaghetti Squash Primavera with Pesto Cream Sauce! It’s delicious, packed with healthy vegetables, and bursting with the flavors of summer time. The best part of all is that I grew most of the ingredients in my own garden! Earthy, roasted spaghetti squash tossed with sauteed fresh veggies goes from good to amazing when it’s topped with this pesto cream sauce. Dare to guess what makes the sauce creamy? You’ll have to check out the recipe below to find out!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash Primavera
with Pesto Cream Sauce

For the Spaghetti Squash Primavera:
INGREDIENTS
1 large spaghetti squash, roasted (You can learn how to roast the spaghetti squash here)
1 zucchini, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 Tbsp coconut oil
Sea salt & black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large saute pan over medium heat, saute the zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes in the coconut oil. Cook only until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Once the vegetables have cooked, add the spaghetti squash strands to the saute pan. Stir and toss to mix the spaghetti squash with the other vegetables.
3. Mix with pesto cream sauce (see below). Can be served warm or chilled.

For the Pesto Cream Sauce
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 – 1/2 cup coconut milk (depending on how creamy you want the sauce to be)

DIRECTIONS
1. In a food processor, combine basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Pulse on high until the ingredients are all broken down into a paste.
2. Next, with the processor on, slowly pour in the olive oil. You may need to stop and scrape the sides of the mixing bowl a few times. Season with salt and pepper, continue to mix until the pesto has a smooth, pureed texture.
3. Once you have your pesto sauce ready, add your desired amount of coconut milk and mix until the pesto is creamy.