Spaghetti squash patties with cilantro-lemon yogurt

I'm back with a recipe for week 8 of the 12 Weeks of Winter Squash. With all the holiday recipes and general craziness of the season, I missed week 7 - hopefully I'll be able to do all the remaining weeks though. 

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It's the time of year when we try to eat from our freezer and pantry a lot, including a big stash of winter squash and all the goodies I canned the past year. We ate these patties with some pork chops and green tomato and apple chutney. All the flavors went together perfectly! 

I spiced these spaghetti squash patties to compliment the chutney, but you could use other spices as well -- spaghetti squash really provides a blank canvas for flavors. The idea for these patties was inspired by a recipe I saw a while back from Sprigs of Rosemary. I thought it would be a delicious way to enjoy some of our spaghetti squash stash and I was correct.

Spaghetti squash patties with cilantro-lemon yogurt
for the patties:
1 small spaghetti squash
olive or coconut oil
1/4 cup minced white onion
1 garlic clove, minced
zest of half a lemon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
a couple grinds of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached

for the sauce:
1/4 cup plain yogurt
juice of half a lemon
pinch of sea salt
2 tablespoons of minced cilantro, plus more for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Lightly oil a baking sheet/dish and place the spaghetti squash cut-side down on the dish. Bake until you can pierce the skin with a fork, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool until you can pick it up.

Use a fork to pull out all the the spaghetti squash flesh into a medium bowl. Then transfer the spaghetti squash to a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Put the squash back in the bowl. Stir in the onion, garlic, lemon zest, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, pepper, and baking powder. Then stir in the egg. Add flour a few tablespoons at a time, stirring well, until the squash begins to stay together and you can form patties out of it.

Stir all of the sauce ingredients together and refrigerate until serving. 

Heat a cast iron skillet and add a little oil. Take about 3-4 tablespoons of the squash mixture per patty and spread it into the skillet, doing about 3-4 patties in a batch. When golden brown flip and cook until both sides are golden. Repeat until all the mixture is used. Sprinkle with sea salt and extra cilantro.

Serve hot with the yogurt sauce.