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!
ONE YEAR AGO: Maple Walnut Biscotti
TWO YEARS AGO: Barley Risotto with Peas
THREE YEARS AGO: Oatmeal Fudge Bars
FOUR YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Steaks
FIVE YEARS AGO: Soft Spot for Chevre
SIX YEARS AGO: Quick sun-dried Tomato Crostini
Bewitching Kitchen 
You were right, I like it! This would be a main dish for me 🙂
I never make vegetable bakes because they usually call for cheese, cheese and more cheese, but the egg and coconut milk sauce sounds really interesting 🙂
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Exactly! way too much cheese that literally hides any vegetable added… no, thanks. This is much much better!
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This sounds delicious and I love the use of coconut milk for flavor and texture. “Satisfying without making you feel uncomfortably stuffed” is the line that resonates with me… that’s the ultimate prize. Bet this would be delicious as a breakfast casserole too… hmmm… we have a birthday boy in the family this weekend, perhaps I will experiment with this lovely number for our breakfast in bed tradition.
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I absolutely hate the feeling of being stuffed after a meal, to me it kills the experience – so this type of flavorful, lightened up version is a must. Of course, when I was 18 I could eat like a horserace after winning first prize… not anymore, this aging lady is not the same she used to be (pity party, you are invited! 😉
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This sounds delicious! I’d love this for a brunch dish too. I can’t wait to play around with the mix of eggs and coconut milk and vegetables.
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Possibilities are endless, Lisa! I know you would make real masterpieces with this basic method….
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Altho’ I very much believe in the necessity of ‘good carbs’ in the diet, this looks like a fabulous main course and will be attempted over the weekend! Methinks I shall further slightly modify and use some broccoli added to some Chinese broccoli for differences in taste and texture . . . shall make some with sweet paprika and some with smoked – the latter perchance not right with the coconut milk . . . . ?
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I like smoked paprika, but usually in much smaller doses than many recipes call for – I find that a bit too much overpowers the flavors… and I am all for using two types of broccoli, Chinese broccoli is hard to find here but… I’ll keep it in mind
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This sounds pretty interesting and I love experimenting with the different veggies. I’ve never seen spiralizer and naughty in the same sentence, ha ha!!
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I thought you might like the Naughty Spiralizer… 😉
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Now this is what all casseroles should aspire to! They needn’t be a mass of melted cheese with some poor vegetable struggling to be seen and tasted. I must be the last person to get on the coconut product bandwagon, Sally, but don’t worry. I’ve bought a few products. Now I just need to use them. Inch by inch … 🙂
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Indeed John… I remember when I was a teenager one of my friends’ Mom used to make a broccoli casserole and she bragged that even broccoli haters would wolf it down. Come to think of it, I think it was 0.05% broccoli swimming in heavy bechamel sauce loaded with mozzarella… 😉 Good times!
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I got two thumbs up? Really? You’re making me blush Sally!
Thank you so much fro your kind words my friend. They mean the word to me!
BTW I love how you tweaked the recipe and made it your own. I need to try your version asap!
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