Tags
dairy free, egg free Paleo breakfast, healthy comfort food, love letter to Melissa Joulwan, Paleo breakfast, Paleo snacks
It is day 7 of our Whole30 today and we have a confession to make. We have been shy about sharing this detail of our Paleo journey, but we can’t go any further through our Whole30 without divulging it:
We are in love with Melissa Joulwan, and think that someday we will all be best friends.
It all started with her first cookbook Well Fed, and the Eggplant Strata. The Shepherd’s Pie, Ras el Hanout and Pad Thai, along with her witty commentary and kick-ass attitude to life drew us in deeper, and we haven’t really lived without her for a couple of years now. Our copy of Well Fed is held together with scotch tape and Sunshine Sauce.
Now we discover that her and Whole30 are like sunbutter and jelly. This isn’t a new thing, we were just slow on the uptake. The past two weeks we have relied so heavily on Well Fed and Well Fed 2, on the information and encouragement Melissa includes in her books and blog posts that our one-sided relationship with her has become borderline creepy. It is time to come out of the closet and share one of her recipes with you, how we use it, and the minor ways that we have modified it to fit our dietary needs.
The major focus of week one of our Whole30 has been shifting away from a nut/seed/fruit based start to the day towards a meat/veggie/fat breakfast. It’s not an accident that this breakfast looks almost identical to the granola of last week. We are, as they say, “in transition.” This recipe starts with the Velvety Butternut Squash out of Well Fed. We made a huge pan of it on the weekend, with two modifications: one, we decreased the amount of garlic out of deference to our patients and co-workers, two, we subbed out the egg for a flax egg to make it allergen-free. Once we had the casserole in the fridge, we could use it as a base for an easy weekday morning breakfast cup. The final flourish was to cook up some Whole30 approved bacon and have it ready and crumbled in a container in the fridge, to be used as the best garnish ever.
We really hope our friend Melissa would approve. And in case she ever reads this: Austin, Texas is a long way from Edmonton, Alberta, but with time and commitment our long distance relationship could totally work. Just saying.
**Do parts one and two on your day off, so you are prepared to do part three only on you work-day mornings.**
Part One: Egg-Free Velvety Butternut Squash a la Melissa Joulwan, Well Fed
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 lb butternut squash (we used one large one)
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 cloves garlic (down from a whole head)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
- 2 tsp Ras el Hanout
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
- 3 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup pecan halves, crushed in mortar and pestle
Preparation:
Follow the directions in the original recipe, reducing the amount of garlic as indicated if you so choose. When you get to the part about the egg, ignore it. Instead, whisk together the ground flax seed and 3 tbsp water in a small bowl, and then pulse that into the squash mixture just until mixed. We didn’t reserve any pecans for garnish, instead sprinkling the whole 1/4 cup of crushed nuts on top of the casserole. Bake as directed, and let cool completely in the fridge. You are now done part one. Don’t worry, part two is way easier.
Part Two: Bacon
Ingredients:
- 6 pieces high quality nitrite free remortgaged-your-house-for-it bacon
Preparation:
Fry bacon in a sauté pan over medium-high heat until brown and borderline crispy. Remove bacon to paper towel and pat dry. When cool, crumble or cut bacon into small pieces and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Part Three: Squash Sundae
Ingredients:
- 1/6 of the pan of butternut squash casserole
- 1/6 of crumbled bacon
- 1 apple, washed, cored and chopped
Preparation:
So simple. Layer some apple on the bottom, then some squash, then more apple, then some squash. Or, if you’re feeling crazy, start with squash on the bottom. Choose your own adventure because this story ends with crispy bacon on the top, and a trip into the trusty microwave. Nuke for a minute to a minute and a half, stirring it a little halfway through. Enjoy with a cup of green or herbal tea.
Bon appétit!