Eat Like A Caveman: Stuffed Peppers with Breaded Squash

This afternoon, I wandered into the kitchen on a mission to make dinner.  I had an eggplant in the fridge and I wasn't afraid to use it.

Until I cut it open, that is.  I do not have a vast well of knowledge in regards to cooking eggplant, but I'm fairly certain it's not supposed to be brown and spongy in the middle.  So I was forced to improvise, and this is what I came up with.

Oh dear heaven.

The squash was not exactly an improvisation.  I've been cooking summer squash (and zucchini) like that a lot lately.  It's super-easy and delicious and more satisfying than a plain vegetable of a similar portion size.  The stuffed peppers, however, were completely thrown together with things I had in the fridge.  Nothing unusual in there, but they are so tasty.

For the peppers:

1 lb ground beef  (haha, I just typed "beaf." That was weird.)
1 onion, chopped
minced garlic in an amount you find appealing
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 can drained diced tomatoes OR a few fresh tomatoes if you've managed to get your lazy behind to the farmer's market anytime in the last couple weeks (I haven't)
1 can tomato paste
various fresh or dried herbs with an Italian slant (I was feeling braindead so I just used a handful of fresh basil from the patio pot.  In retrospect it could have also used some parsley, oregano, thyme and/or sage.)
 up to 4 pretty-colored bell peppers (only stuff one pepper per person, unless you have piggy guests)

Throw the beaf (haha) into a medium-hot pan with the onions, garlic, and a glug of olive oil.  Stir up the meat until it's thoroughly browned and crumbled up.  If it seems a little wet, drain it.  If you used 96/4 like me (or if you used bison like an even more awesome person), you probably won't need to.  Add the salt and pepper, tomato, tomato paste, and the herbs, and simmer for a few minutes.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if you feel like it.

Just a note:  this is the most basic of all basic tomato sauces.  It can be adapted to fit a thousand applications.  It is nothing earth-shattering.  My apologies if you were bored stupid and now wish to throw boogers at me for being so lame as to put a plain old tomato sauce recipe on my blog.

MOVING ON.

Take those pretty-colored bell peppers and slice them in half vertically.  Pull out the veins and seeds, but for God's sake leave the stem on.  Peppers are so pedestrian, they need all the aesthetic help they can get.  Slice that stem in half with the rest of the pepper and all of a sudden you have ART.  Rub a bit of olive oil on the cut edges of the pepper, and rub some oil into the bottom of a glass baking dish.  Bonus points if the dish is pretty, too.  Fill each pepper half with the meatsauce (there will probably be some left over; save it for more peppers, or put it on spaghetti squash, or just eat it with a spoon like Jason did when he got home because he was flipping starving and couldn't wait for dinner) and plop the whole assembly into a 350-degree oven for 20-25 minutes.  The peppers should come out nice and hot but not exactly cooked.  You want there to be some crunch still.

You know how to further elevate it from "dinner" to "ART?"  Stick a tiny freaking basil leaf on it.

GENIUS.

  
Now that breaded squash.  It's not bread at all.  It's almond flour. To make it:

1 medium yellow squash or zucchini, cut into large dice
1/2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
1/4 cup almond flour
garlic powder

Melt the butter in a medium-hot pan (normally I'm indifferent about cooking surface but this really wants something non-stick, whether it's teflon or well-seasoned cast iron or whatever you use).  Cook the squash for about 5 minutes, giving it a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Scatter half the almond flour over the veggies, along with some more salt and pepper and a dusting of garlic powder.  Toss to coat (stirring just doesn't work, sorry).  Scatter the rest of the almond flour; toss it again.  Turn up the heat a few degrees; we want to crisp up the breading a bit, but we don't want to burn it.  Keep tossing the squash every 30 seconds or so; try to make sure it turns so each side gets browned.  Serve it nice and hot and try not to stuff it all in your mouth at once because it is DELICIOUS.

And I leave you with this artistic shot of some admittedly poorly-browned breaded squash.

It's not really browned.  It's really just kind of beiged.

Eat Like A Caveman: Shepherd's Pie

Jason's been following a Paleo diet for a few months now.  He's having excellent results from it--he feels good, he's lost some stubborn weight he had been struggling with, and he's running better than ever.  There are some other interesting side effects he's noticed--for example, his skin isn't dry and itchy anymore, even though we've had one of the coldest winters we've had in years.  I personally haven't switched over, although I have cut back on a lot of non-Paleo foods, simply because we live together and it's just easier when it comes to making dinner to go along with what he wants.

I did the same thing when I was dating a vegetarian, only this is way better.  WAY WAY BETTER.  (Not just because of the food, but that's not the point of this post.)

It's just... you don't get much bacon in a vegetarian household.  And I'm not okay with that.

Anyway, what this all means is that I've had to adapt some of my old favorites to fit the Paleo profile a little better.  Jason's okay with not eating strictly Paleo, which is good, because butter is not Paleo, but there's really no substitute.  Olive oil will work for most things, but there are some things where only butter will do.

I like butter a lot.

One of my favorite adaptations is my Paleo shepherd's pie.  It's way better than the vegetarian version I tried to make once.  I mean... come on.  Shepherd's pie.  'Shepherd' as in 'herd of sheep = mutton on the hoof.'  IT HAS TO HAVE MEAT.  IT JUST DOES.

So anyway.  Start with some kind of ground meat and a chopped onion.  This version was made with ground turkey, but seriously, any kind of ground animal will work.  You'll also use a small can of tomato sauce and one of those wee tiny cans of tomato paste, just not right away.  They just bombed this photo, that's all.  (The papaya and the avocado bombed it too, but they're not involved tonight so please to ignore.)

Chop chop.  Love that knife.  Hate the chopping board.  IT SCOOTS.  THIS IS NOT OKAY.

Brown them together in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Ground turkey looks gross until it's cooked.  I mean really.

Gather whatever frozen vegetables you have on hand (use fresh if you want, but make sure you chop them up small.  Big chunks are obnoxious in shepherd's pie).  I usually put in about a pound's worth, using whatever I have on hand.  Tonight I used half a package each of frozen spinach and peas-and-carrots.  (The peas are an example of not-strictly-Paleo, which is why I said you can use whatever.)

If you don't have out-of-focus ones, that's okay.  In-focus vegetables work too.

Use whatever spices and seasonings you want.  I don't like a lot of "heat" (I hate that word) so I use milder things.  Black pepper, ground mustard, paprika, chili powder.  And dried thyme. 

I love this picture.  It's very 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It needs a dramatic musical score or something.

Hey, wanna see our spice rack?

Yeah, it's pretty awesome.

Once the meat and onions are thoroughly cooked, dump in the tomato sauce and paste, the veggies, and the seasonings.  Stir it up and let it simmer until the veggies are cooked.

Hot mess, kiddos.  Delicious, hot mess.

Now, the crowning glory (kind of literally).  I actually start the topping first, but I wanted to save it because this, my friends, is what separates traditional shepherd's pie from my beloved Paleo version.

Mashed.  Parsnips.

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM

Where the potatoes would go, use parsnips instead.  GENIUS.  Proceed just as you would for making mashed potatoes--give them a rough chop, cover them in water, and boil until they're soft and easily pierced with a fork.  If you start boiling them first, by the time the hot mess is simmering, they'll be about ready to mash.  I always put a bit of butter and a crapload of garlic in them (cheater garlic in a jar FTW), along with some salt and pepper.

No, the pan's not dirty, that's just pepper stuck in the starch from the boiling water.  IGNORE IT.

Oh, and about that mashing?  Old-school masher, all the way.  Don't you dare use an electric beater.  It's not necessary and it ruins the texture.

I'M SERIOUS.  NO MIXERS.

Put the hot mess in a baking dish and top it with the mashed awesome.

So close, kittens.  So very close.

Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or so, just enough to slightly brown the parsnips and let the flavors blend.  THEN DIG IN.

Yes, there are only two of us.  Why do you ask?

So there it is!  Sunday night dinner.  Comfort food.  Leftovers.  Easy to make and very good for you.  Who needs a box dinner full of crap and science?  We don't, and neither do you.