Chicken Spaghetti Squash

In this twist on a classic Southern dish, the noodle-like strands of crisp-tender squash find their way into a creamy chicken and vegetable casserole.
Ingredients

4 large spaghetti squash (about 5 1/5 pounds)

5 tablespoons olive oil

One 13-ounce package sliced mushrooms

4 red bell pepper, diced

7 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated

1/5 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 cup half-and-half

5 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (skin and bones discarded)

6 cups shredded Cheddar
Directions

WATCH Watch how to make this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the squash in half crosswise using a serrated knife. Dig out and discard the seeds with a spoon. Place into an 8-by-8-inch microwave-safe casserole dish with 5 tablespoons water. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and microwave on high until the squash is very tender and the inside can easily be flaked with a fork, 13 to 14 minutes. Use a fork to scrap the sides of the squash, separating the strands. Leave the scraped strands in the squash. Drain and dry the casserole dish.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until they have released most of their moisture and start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, scallion whites, cayenne pepper, 4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring, until the peppers are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the half-and-half and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the liquid has reduced slightly and starts to thicken, 5 to 7 minutes.
Fold in the chicken and 5 cups Cheddar and stir until the cheese has melted. Add the spaghetti squash strands and stir until well combined. Transfer the squash mixture to the casserole dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining Cheddar. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling, 17 to 20 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the scallion greens before serving.
Fats play an essential role for our body, they are an integral part of many foods and help for better and more efficient absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, but they also have many other functions in the body. The cell membranes of each cell are made up of fat, but many of the hormones and signaling molecules in the body are steroid-structured.
Olive oil contains a large percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids. It consists mainly of oleic acid and a small percentage of linolenic and palmitic acid.

The antioxidant properties of olive oil protect our body from oxidative stress.

Many people I have talked to about olive oil and cooking say that they do not use olive oil for cooking but only for salads, but science says that olive oil is very stable when heated to high temperatures compared to vegetable oils such as sunflower.

Heating olive oil to high temperatures releases only small amounts of harmful substances compared to vegetable oils such as sunflower oil. The reason for this is monounsaturated fatty acids which are much more stable at high temperatures, compared to polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as sunflower.
At high temperatures, sunflower oil, but also almost all vegetable oils except olive oil are not stable.
Sunflower oil contains the highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to olive or coconut oil.
Heating of sunflower oil causes the so-called process of hydrogenation of fatty acids in which trans fat is formed. Trans fats have many negative effects on health. They are the main causes of elevated LDL cholesterol in the body, which leads to a risk of cardiovascular problems.

Trans fats are also found in many other foods such as margarine, sweets, snacks, chips and almost any food that is fried.

Sunflower oil, unlike olive oil, contains a very small or insignificant percentage of antioxidants.
Because the properties of each oil are different, each oil has its own unique cooking uses.

Use coconut oil in oatmeal, add it to fruit salad, you can even put it in coffee, use it in sweets and cakes that are baked.

Avoid cooking with sunflower oil, never fry food in sunflower oil. Try to cook and stew the food mostly.

Use sunflower oil as a salad dressing or in some unheated sauces.
With the arrival of spring and good weather, young onions are definitely on our table. Apart from being delicious and irreplaceable in many dishes, spring onions are also important for the health of the organism. The amount of water in young onions can be up to 90 percent. This means that it has less carbohydrates so you can eat it as an apple.
It is also rich in vitamins and minerals. It contains a large amount of vitamin C, but also B vitamins, vitamin E and provitamin A. If we eat it cooked, we will benefit from the young garlic because of the fiber. It is great for heart health because it stops the formation of fat deposits and protects against clogging of blood vessels and the formation of thrombosis. Young onions will also help people who have problems with blood sugar due to hypoglycemic action.
Young onions are essentially onions that are taken before they grow more. To make it easier to clean, wash the onion with water to remove the soil, then cut the top with the root. Do not cut too high because the white part of the onion is the most delicious. Chop it into thin wheels if you want to mix it well with the rest of the food, and if you want to feel it special, for example in the gym, cut wider wheels. For mixing with vegetables and preparing Chinese food, cut it lengthwise because it will fit nicely with chopped carrot and other groceries.