Spaghetti Squash with Kale and Sausage

B has been out of the country for the last two weeks.  Happily, it's just a short deployment and he will be home in another two weeks or so (YAY for passing the half-way point!).  

For previous deployments, I used to fall into some bad food-habits, mainly eating too many convenience foods:  Lean Cuisines, canned soups and bowls of cold cereal.  In other words, processed junk.  Sure, I would supplement with daily salads (I cannot live without salads) but I rarely cooked meals for myself.  Have you ever tried cooking for one?  I can tell you, it's not easy, and I always wind up with leftovers.  Leftovers themselves are not a bad thing, but nobody wants to eat the same thing day in and day out, so I would just use that as an excuse not to cook.  Well, not this time.  

This deployment, I made a personal commitment to avoid falling into my old habits.  No frozen meals, no cans of soup.  Real meals, healthy, whole ingredients.  The way B and I like to eat.

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce, Sauteed Vegetables and Italian Sausage

serves 1

3-4 oz mild Italian sausage (removed from casings)

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 medium yellow onion, diced

2 small mushrooms, roughly chopped

2 cups kale, roughly chopped (just the leaves, the stems removed)

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 cup cooked, prepared spaghetti squash (check out this how-to guide)

1/2 cup tomato sauce, prepared and heated through (I had leftover homemade sauce, but you could use prepared sauce from the jar)

1 Tbsp parmesan cheese, grated

Saute italian sausage in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until fully cooked all the way through.  Remove sausage to a paper towel-lined plate to drain some of the fat.  Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in same skillet (if there is some fat left in the pan from cooking the sausage, you can omit the oil here).  In the same skillet, saute onion until almost translucent (about 5 minutes) over medium-low heat.  Add chopped mushrooms and kale to skillet with the onions and stir frequently, for 5-6 minutes, until kale is wilted and mushrooms are cooked through, season with salt and pepper if desired.  Add red wine vinegar and stir.  Return sausage to the pan and toss with the vegetables.

Plate the cooked spaghetti squash and top with the tomato sauce.  Add sausage and vegetables on top of the sauce and sprinkle on the grated parmesan cheese.