One more time I am sharing a recipe from the super athlete Mike, who runs the blog The Iron You. For those who like to experiment with a lower carb or Paleo nutrition, eggs are a fundamental ingredient. Great source of protein and fat, they are so versatile: you can make a nice omelette, frittatas, egg muffins, egg bakes, adding all sorts of ingredients from meats to veggies. I eat a lot of eggs each week for lunch, usually sunny side up or scrambled, sometimes hard-boiled, but at dinner time I opt for more elaborate uses, souffle’ being a favorite when I don’t mind splurging a little.  This casserole is quite low in carbs, but feels like splurging. Satisfying without making you feel uncomfortably stuffed. Perfect side dish, if you ask me…

CREAMY BROCCOLI AND MUSHROOM CASSEROLE
(slightly modified from The Iron You)

1 ½ pounds broccoli florets
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 pound white button mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon fine grain salt
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup full fat coconut milk

Heat oven to 350°F  and place a rack in the middle. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil.
Place an inch of water in a saucepan with a steamer and bring to a boil. Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes, until tender but still firm. Remove from the heat and let cool.

While the broccoli cools, melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the shallot and celery and sauté until translucent and fragrant, about 5 minutes.   Add mushrooms, thyme, salt, paprika, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Sauté until mushrooms have browned a bit, about 8 minutes.

When broccoli florets have cooled down a little bit, chop the larger ones into bite-sized pieces. Add broccoli to the skillet and gently stir until combined. Pour the broccoli-mushroom mixture into the prepared baking dish. In a bowl whisk eggs with coconut milk and pour over broccoli mixture. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until golden-brown.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you google recipes for low-carb egg bakes or egg muffins, you’ll end up with thousands of hits to choose from. For the most part, they can be divided in two categories: those that use just eggs to bind the ingredients, and those that rely on dairy (quite often heavy cream).  I am not too fond of recipes that use only eggs because they end up with a rubbery texture I don’t care for. As to the ones loaded with heavy cream, they feel overly rich for my taste. This recipe solves both problems, the texture is perfect, and it has just the right amount of naughty…   We enjoyed it back in December, actually.  Obviously, it’s taking me a while to share,  but the weather is still appropriate for casseroles. Make it and you will fall in love with it too. You can add different veggies, in fact soon I intend to try a version using carrots and zucchini. I might even get my spiralizer out just for fun, and a bit of added naughty.

Mike, thanks for all the great dishes you blog about, two thumbs up for this one!

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