We rely on leftovers all week long or we would not eat. I shop in my freezer but aways have something fresh for a leftover transformation. Take a pint of something out of the freezer the night before, or need to use something up that was cooked fresh over the weekend. I've tossed it with pesto for lunch or a spicy salsa from a taco meal. Lately i've been making cottage pies or quick layered lasagna type casseroles. This one from the other night has a fresh sliced sweet potato bottom, then shallot/garlic. A layer of leftover spaghetti squash, then a big fat hand full of fresh baby spinach really thick. It cooked down and provided steam and moisture. Tomatoes, then mozzarella and gruyere i needed to use up. Not at all a big leftover 'mush' with all the fresh layering. I also recently tried some grain cakes. (I put grainlady's link in my bookmarks folder) I made spinach, kale, quinoa and some frozen/thawed winter squash. (Only used half of it for a corn chowder.) I had to add a bit of spice, alot of spices, to please DH. Really good.

Here's two recipes that you might be interested in. I haven't tried them. Spaghetti Squash Salad (From Chef Michael Smith on Food Network Canada) 1 spaghetti squash 1 cup of prepared pesto 1 cup of sun dried tomatoes, chopped 1/4 cup of parsley, chopped 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash onto a baking sheet and pierce with a paring knife. Roast it for 45 minutes, until it is very soft. When itÂs cool enough to handle, cut it in half and scoop out the spaghetti-like flesh. Place in a large bowl and add the pesto, sun dried tomatoes, parsley, vinegar and olive oil. Toss well and season with salt and pepper. **************************************** Spaghetti Squash with Mushrooms and Pearl Onion Ragout (from Canadian Living Cooks) 1 spaghetti squash 1 lb. pearl onion 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tsp sugar 2 stalks celery, diced 1 carrot, diced 1 sweet red pepper, diced 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp dried thyme 1/4 tsp dried sage 1 lb. mixed exotic mushroom, ( such as oyster, crimini and stemmed shiitake), trimmed, and, thinly, sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup vegetable stock 3 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp tomato, paste 1 tbsp butter, softened 1 tbsp flour 2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Using fork, pierce squash all over. Roast in roasting pan in oven until tender when pressed, 1hour and 15 minutes, turning a couple of times. Turn off oven. Meanwhile, trim onions. Blanch in saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute. Using slotted spoon, remove to bowl of ice water to stop cooking process. Peel; cut any large ones in half. In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons (25 mL) of the oil over medium heat. Cook onions and sugar, stirring often, for about 15 minutes or until onions are starting to turn golden. Stir in celery, carrot and the thyme and sage; add red pepper, half of the salt and pepper, cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until onions are a deep caramel colour. Transfer to bowl. Add 2 tablespoons (25 mL) of the oil to skillet. Stir in mushrooms and garlic; cook, stirring for about 10 minutes or until excess liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are starting to turn golden brown. Return onion mixture to pan along with stock, soy sauce, vinegar and tomato paste; cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, stir butter with flour; add to pan and cook, stirring gently, until completely melted and sauce is thickened. Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Using fork, pull apart strands and place in bowl. Add remaining oil, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Mound on plates; spoon ragout over top. Garnish with parsley.

Steam or microwave until tender. Cut in half, remove seeds, pull apart with forks to resemble spaghetti. Toss with walnut oil, sea salt and fresh gr. pepper. Place on a oiled cookie sheet in a single layer and roast in 450 oven until it browned. Serve. We're having this dish at Thanksgiving instead of baked acron squash this year. The garden produced a bumper crop of spaghetti squash but very few acorn squash this year!

Thanks Solanum, On the web is says of the seeds of the cucurbita ficifolia "Seed - raw[57, 86, 160]. Rich in oil with a nutty flavour but very fiddly to use because the seed is small and covered with a fibrous coat". These seeds are large, smooth and black, rather like those of the pumpkin. When cooked, it goes stringy with the appearance of sharks fin soup. It also had a creamy coloured skin without the green markings. Is this the case with the cuc fic? When I said hard skin, I didn't mean that you had to tackle it with an axe. My chef's knife handled it, but I would rank it with one of the toughest pumpkins. Woori