Two Paelo-ish Recipes We Love

I am going to start this with a warning: I do mean paleo-ISH. It’s mostly paleo, as our son is allergic to most grains, but since we are Vermonters who are die-hard lovers of dairy fat, there are some exceptions made to our paleo diet.

Starting off strong, we LOVE anything with cassava pasta. Our go-to is made by Jovial, and they actually have quite a few options in both our local stores and online. Our son is a big fan of Harry’s homemade mac and cheese (which is really where the “ish” that I mentioned comes from), but sometimes when a meal needs a little extra something, we serve it over this pasta or with the pasta mixed in. This leads me to my first recipe, which is a Vermont staple: tuna pea wiggle.

Tuna Pea Wiggle

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour of your choice (we like Bob’s Red Mill cassava)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 can peas
• At least 2 cans of tuna
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add flour and cook for about a minute or until light brown. Add milk slowly and stir until thick like sauce.
2. Add drained tuna, peas, and salt and pepper to your taste.
3. Serve over cassava pasta, crushed crackers, toast, or potatoes.

This is a super quick, easy recipe to make, and it’s always a fan favorite in our home!

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The other recipe we love is chicken pot pie. We adore hearty dinners, largely because it’s so cold in our state for a majority of the year, and a hearty meal is just what we need to warm us up after barn chores. I have an affinity for one-pot meals, so my skillet pot pie is perfect. For full disclosure, I originally got this recipe from RachLMansfield, and though I made some big changes to it, I still want to give credit where credit is due.

One-Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• For the crust:
  • 1 1/2 cup of almond flour
  • 3/4 cup of cassava flour
  • 1/2 cup of salted butter
  • 1 egg
• For the skillet:
  • 2 chicken breasts, cubed to the size you prefer
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 medium carrots
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 1/4 cup of peas (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 1/4 cup of green beans (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/3 cup of salted butter
  • 1/2 cup cassava or chickpea flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Your favorite herbs to taste (I use rosemary, parsley, and thyme)
• For the egg wash
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

1. First, prepare the crust. I like to add the flours, egg, and butter into a bowl and use a pastry blender to mix everything together. It’s not a perfect method, but it’s a great arm workout!
2. Once you have a workable dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Ironically, it usually takes me about an hour to prep the rest of the meal, but that’s largely due to my toddler.
3. Now, you can start on the skillet! I use a 12 inch cast iron pan and bring it up to heat with olive oil. Cook your diced chicken in the oil until the internal temp is 165 degrees.
4. Once you achieve this, remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside. Then, add your butter, diced onion, and diced carrot. Cook until tender, and then add your garlic. Cook until fragrant.
5. Add your flour to start creating a roux. Once thick, add salt, pepper, and herbs, then add your liquids.
6. Once you thoroughly mix everything, reduce the heat to a simmer so that the mixture can continue to thicken.
7. Add the chicken back in, along with the peas and green beans. Let simmer while you prep step 8.
8. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on parchment paper. Please note that it is difficult to work with grain free flours, so your dough may be extremely crumbly as you spread it over your skillet. Food doesn’t have to be pretty to taste great!
9. Mix your egg and milk to make a pastry wash and then brush it over the crust.
10. Poke a few holes in your crust with a fork and then stick the skillet in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. When it’s done, you should have the bubbly goodness shown below!

Having a child with food allergies isn’t always easy, but I hope these two recipes show that an allergy doesn’t have to hold you back from eating the foods you always used to love. We truly enjoy trying to make things from scratch, and getting creative in finding ways for our son to eat our favorite meals is like a personal challenge for Harry and I. We do recognize that we are lucky to have access to grain-free options, both in that they are available to us locally and that we can afford the often-pricier alternatives. I hope to be back again with more recipes (I made a chickpea-coated chicken parm meal last night that was *chef’s kiss*, if I do say so myself), but until next time, be well!

Lots of love,

Jill