Taco Spaghetti Squash

This is a fantastic meal idea that we borrowed from a friend of ours and tweaked a bit.

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 pound ground beef
1 chopped onion
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped
olives - for topping
sour cream - for topping
salsa - for topping
guacamole/avocado - for topping

Directions:
1. Cut the squash in half, scooping out the seeds.
2. Place cut-side down on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about an hour. Bake until the squash is tender and cam be shredded with a fork, but not so much that it is mushy.
3. Brown the ground beef and onion in a medium skillet, draining off the fat if you desire.
4. Remove the squash from the oven and shred with a fork.
5. Stir in the taco seasoning, the shredded squash, and 1/2 of the cheddar cheese with the ground beef/onion mixture.
6. After it is mixed, put it into a greased 2 quart casserole dish and top with the other 1/2 of the cheddar cheese and bake uncovered at 350 for about 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and serve over a bed of lettuce and top with tomatoes, olives, sour cream, guacamole or avocados, and salsa if desired.

Here's the link to my friend Rachel's blog that has the original recipe she made.

Pan Fried Tenderloin Steaks Puttanesca

Ingredients:
2 tbsp sun-dried tomato bits
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (can substitute 1 tsp of dried basil instead)
1/4 cup chopped ripe olives
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp hickory-smoked salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 (4-oz) beef tenderloin steaks (or whatever you want to use)

Directions:
1. Combine sun-dried tomato bits and 1/2 cup boiling water in a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the sun-dried tomato and add the chopped tomato, wine, basil, olives, and garlic. Mix well and set aside.
3. Brush Worcestershire sauce on the steaks and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. (I didn't have hickory smoked salt, so used regular).
4. Grease a large skillet and cook the steaks as desired. It works well to sear over high heat, then lower the heat to finish to the done-ness you prefer. (As I just used regular salt, I added some liquid smoke to the oil to fry the steaks in to give them a bit of smokey flavor).
5. Remove steaks when finished cooking and let rest while you complete the sauce.
6. Add tomato mixture into the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until heated through (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
7. Serve over the steaks. Garnish with basil sprigs if desired.

This was a very good topping and gave the meal a very Mediterranean flair. One thing I think would enhance the meal is some crumbled feta cheese on top of the sauce when serving it over the steak. I think that would give it a very nice touch.

This recipe is from the Gillespe 501 Recipes for a LC Life cookbook.