I’m not sure how many in the Specific Carbohydrate Diet world are aware of the Primal or Paleo communities but they share all the same basic tenants of diet. I bought Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint months ago and loved it. So, when Mark launched his Primal Blueprint Cookbook I jumped at the chance to own a copy and ended up being one of the first in line receiving a signed edition, Jackpot!
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook is billed as a grain-free, dairy-free and gluten-free cookbook. Nearly every recipe is SCD friendly and the few that aren’t can be easily changed. Over the last month, I’ve been sampling some of the recipes and I have to say I’ve always been impressed at the taste and ease of preparation. Cooking with natural foods is easy and fun!
This week, I tried the zucchini egg bake recipe. The recipe turned out amazing even though I modified it a bit. It was very good as a dinner and I think even better the next morning as breakfast. In the future, this simple meal is going to be a constant staple in my diet. Without further ado:
Zucchini Egg Bake
Ingredients:
- 4 Tablespoons of Butter
- 1/4 Cup of Chopped Onion (I used ½ cup of red onion)
- 2 Pounds of Zucchini, Grated (I used 4 large zucchini peeled first)
- ½ Pound of Ground Meat (I used 1 pound of beef)
- 3 Eggs, Beaten
- 1/3 Cup Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese (I used about 1 cup of cheddar cheese)
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Cooking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Peel and grate the zucchini. Then, in a sauté pan heat butter, onion and zucchini until the zucchini is tender (about 7 minutes for me). Drain off liquid from the pan and then add beef, season to taste, cook until meat is almost fully cooked. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Then, dump the pan into an 8×8 baking dish. Grate the cheese on top and bake in the oven uncovered for 35-40 minutes (I did 30 minutes… ovens vary).
It may sound like a lot of work when reading but it really is a simple, delicious dish. Like I said, this dish works equally as well for dinner as breakfast and I will probably use it most for breakfast as it tastes just as good after a couple days in the fridge.
I apologize for not grabbing a picture, but it disappeared too fast! If you like the recipe, make sure you go check out Mark’s site over at Mark’s Daily Apple. It’s a wealth of great information. If you cook it, let me know what you think below.
When you grate a zucchini do you scrape the seeds out first or just grate the whole thing?
Plan someone answer this
Hey Amin – if you’re early in SCD and still de-seeding and peeling all your veggies, go ahead and remove the seeds first. If you’ve already progressed to zucchini with the seeds, you don’t need to worry about removing them.
The recipe calls for andouille sausage but I use chorizo that I buy from my local farmers market. The only change you’d need to make the recipe SCD legal would be using fresh diced tomatoes instead of canned. Assuming you get or make an SCD-legal sausage, you’d be good to go!
I’ve fed the Jambalaya to people who eat the Standard American Diet and they can’t even tell it doesn’t have rice in it. The cauliflower “rice” is fantastic! Enjoy!
@ Amy – Thanks for stopping by I completely agree the book is awesome and thanks for posting the link, I completely forgot but most of the recipes listed on Mark’s site for free are also SCD legal. I haven’t tried the Jambalaya yet but I’m itching to give it a go. Do you modify the recipe at all when you make it?
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook is fantastic and definitely worth the $. I haven’t tried the Zucchini Egg Bake since I’m allergic to eggs and casein. My favorite recipe from the book is the Jambalaya. Mark’s also got free recipes on his site: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-recipes/