I just have to start off by saying that spaghetti squash straight up scares me.

Not in the same panicky, “freak out while screaming bloody murder and thrashing your arms wildly about” kind of way that spiders (or creepy crawlies in general) do.

But in the “I might possibly lose an arm trying to cut this thing open” way.

It took me a solid 11 minutes to get this baby prepped.

First you have to mentally prepare.

Convince yourself that enjoying a delicious, tender squash stuffed with flavorful sauteed veggies covered in melty cheese is actually worth risking an appendage for. (It is, believe me.)

Then you have to stare the thing down.

Make sure the squash knows that you’re indeed the boss here. (You might question this once you actually start hacking away.)

Next, you will need a large, sharp knife. Duh.

I considered using a pumpkin carving tool because I’m that much of a wuss when it comes to blood…

But I manned up and went for it, chef’s knife in trembling hand.

*Simply* insert your knife into the squash and slice through half of it (lengthwise), then flip it around and slice through the other half.

Now doesn’t that seem easy?

It would have been, if my knife was a little (ahem, a lot) sharper and if I had some respectable guns. (We’re talking arm muscles here, just to clarify.)

Clearly I was finally able to tame the beast.

Photos don’t lie. Well okay, sometimes they do… if you’re talented in the realm of Photoshop. Ha.

It might take a couple weeks to muster up the mental and physical strength required to prepare such a monster of a squash again.

Maybe I’m being a titch dramatic.

In the meantime, give it a try yourself.

Because tender, roasted spaghetti squash topped with sauteed yellow onion, crisp green and red bell peppers, fresh garlic, bright tomato sauce, spicy red pepper flakes, nutty Parmesan cheese and Italian parsley is really quite simple, tasty and… healthy!

P.S. If you want to boost the protein factor, stir some chickpeas into the tomato sauce and top the whole thing off with a fried egg or two!

P.P.S. If you’re a salter, go for it! I’m a bit sensitive to sodium, so I chose to leave salt out.

P.P.S. You get to stare at 3 pictures of squash today! How lucky. (Yep, I couldn’t make up my mind, again.)