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I start by baking the spaghetti squash- I cut it in half,
scoop out the seeds, then put it in a pyrex dish cut side
down in an inch of water. 45 minutes at 350º is sufficient
for an average one (7-8 inches long, 4-5 inch diameter) to
get pretty well-done and soft.
The peppers I use vary, depending on what looks best at
the farmer's market on any given Saturday. But during the
winter, I'm stuck with grocery-store produce, so I usually
end up with the same five, as seen in that picture:
3 bell peppers (red, yellow and green),
a poblano
and an Anaheim.
I use my 15" skillet, and set the burner between "medium" and "medium high".
While it's warming up, I dice
1/2 a red onion and
1 or 2 cloves of elephant garlic (about 1/5 cup)
Once the skillet is hot, I melt about three tablespoons
of my homemade habañero butter (you could substitute
3TBS of plain butter or oil and add 1/2 teaspoon of good hot Cayenne)
and add the diced onion & elephant garlic.
Then, with a potato peeler, I shave about half a handful
of fresh ginger directly into the skillet.
I let all that cook until soft and translucent while I dice the peppers;
keeping an eye on it and stirring occasionally. I like to dice them
on a 2/1 formula: 2/3rds of each gets diced pretty fine, and the
last third gets chopped into 1/2 inch chunks.
The big chunks of the colored peppers make the dish look pretty,
while the big chunks of the spicy peppers provide a bit of flavor
variety from one mouthful to the next.
By the time I'm done dicing, the onion has expressed its liquid,
and there should be a definite layer of "juice" in the skillet.
If it's not enough to noticeably roll back and forth when tipped
side to side, I add a Tbs or two of hot water and then add:
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground fenugreek
2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp sugar
and lastly
2 Tbs of dark soy sauce
(Pearl River Bridge™ "Superior Dark", if you can get it. If you're forced
to use something like LaChoy, use 3 tablespoons. Maybe four.)
Once the soy sauce is in, I dump in the diced peppers, give it a quick stir to mix,
and then slap the lid on while I clean the baby BokChoy.
I separate two small heads, wash it all, then tear the leafy green tops
off of the bottoms. If the tops are big, I tear them in half again.
By now, my baked spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle bare-handed,
so I scoop it out of its skin with a large spoon into a bowl, and cover it.
By the time I've done that, the skillet-peppers are starting to lose crispness,
and are a few minutes away from perfect (semi-firm to bite, soft but not mushy)
So, I dump in the leafy BokChoy tops, stir them into the medly,
then arrange the BokChoy bottoms in a single layer across the top
of the whole deal.
I add a Tbs of hot water, and slap the lid on again for exactly THREE MINUTES;
that's just enough time for that last bit of water to steam the delicate
BokChoy bottoms to medium-crisp perfection.
Take the skillet off the burner, toss a few chunks of the squash onto a plate
and gently separate it into strands with two forks, then use a big spatula
to lift a section of the skillet mix and settle it onto the bed of squash.
The result is what you saw in that picture, and it's as tasty as it looks!
I think I've made it sound more complicated than it really is;
you might want to dice everything in advance the first time you make it.
But since it's become one of Sweetie's regular favorites, I've gotten
into a rhythm of prepping while stirring, and adding things in order,
and it takes less time to make than it took me to type all this.
(I type slow!)
Once the squash is out of the oven, it's only about 20 minutes between
putting the skillet on the burner and putting the finished dish on a plate.
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