quinoa stuffed spaghetti squash

quinoa stuffed spaghetti squash

what a difficult 5:4 this was - i just wasn't hacking it, until an ephiphany hit me and i came up with this. the required ingredients were spaghetti squash, pork, tomatoes, eggplant, and nuts.

1 medium spaghetti squash
1/2 c. quinoa
1 c. water or broth
1/4 of a large eggplant, diced
3 large mushrooms, sliced
1/8 c. oven-dried tomatoes, chopped (see recipe below)
3 slices of bacon, chopped into bits
1/4 c. almonds, coarsely chopped
salt, fresh ground pepper

cut squash in half lengthwise, remove innards. season with salt and fresh ground pepper, and put in microwave safe dish with about 1/2 c. water. cover with saran wrap and microwave on high for approximately 20 minutes, until soft.
meanwhile, bring quinoa and broth to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
also meanwhile, toast almonds. remove, then fry bacon. mid-way, add mushrooms and eggplant. continue until near cooked through.
once the quinoa has absorbed all or most of the broth, add bacon, almonds, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, and mix together. adjust seasonings.
remove squash, and stuff each side with quinoa mixture. serve.

(note: i apologize for the dark photo, even my photo enhancer still wouldn't make it much lighter.)