Paleo Chicken Stroganoff

My oldest always asks, "What's for dinner?" I don't think he does it in an attempt to say, "What are you feeding me?" I think he does it because he's genuinely curious. I don't frequently duplicate recipes, so he'll see the start of something and wonder what it could possibly end up being.

I had a bit of a dilemma for dinner. I was really craving some beef stroganoff, but it was chicken I had thawed and needed to be cooked. I looked at dozens of recipes for a paleo version of stroganoff and figured it would be simple enough to substitute chicken and chicken friendly spices. The problem was that I couldn't find a paleo stroganoff recipe that I was in love with. Many of them still called for heavy cream. I get that primal allows for full-fat dairy products, but I thought paleo avoided them. Whatevs. Either way that wasn't going to work for me.

Another challenge I was facing was that the majority of recipes I found relied heavily on garlic. Le Sigh. Once again, I was on my own.

Being allergic to tomatoes and garlic really sucks. I mean, really sucks. These are, well, um, were, two of my favorite things to cook with. I remember my allergy doc saying, "Well this is good news. At least you're only allergic to a few things and it's easy enough to eliminate them." Easy enough? Easy enough?? Obviously it's your wife/girlfriend/kids/dog who does the cooking.

I had a huge spaghetti squash sitting on my counter, and that was going to be just as good - if not better - than the zucchini noodles many other recipes were calling for. Did you know that stroganoff has been around for over a hundred years, originally developed in Russia? Or so I read, anyway. I also read that the original stroganoff recipes did not include a rice or pasta bed, it was hearty enough to be eaten as a stand-alone dish. So sure, you could substitute cauliflower rice or squash or something else for the bed (as I did), but I had never considered serving it on its own.

One of these days I really want to pick up a grass fed steak and make paleo beef stroganoff. This chicken stroganoff was just amazing. There was very little left for my lunch. That's fine by me, though, as long as I know my guys are getting enough healthy stuff in them. There was a little, so I took it to work with a spinach and salmon salad. Worked out just great.

Interestingly, any time I make a dish with spaghetti squash, I end up with lots of spaghetti squash left and very little of the topping. I find that very interesting.

Why does everyone hate my squash?

I came across an interesting recipe the other day for what essentially amounted to spaghetti squash fritters, and I think I might try that with the leftovers. I don't think anyone likes the squash but me, and that's fine. If the fritters turn out tasty, that's just more for me! :o)

I've just started cooking with ghee. On one hand, it's considerably more expensive than butter (for obvious reasons), so I don't really want to be baking with it or anything like that. On the other hand, it seems to tolerate higher heat better (and longer cooking times without burning), and the flavor is just absolutely to die for. So, while it's more costly than butter, I think it's going to be making regular appearances in my cooking in small amounts.

As a side note, check the can of coconut milk before you attempt to open it from the bottom. I was able to get one small hole poked in it before I realized my can opener was only going to open it from the top. If you do this, I highly recommend you do not turn it over and shake it. Such an action just might cover you and your kitchen with splashes of coconut milk. I'm still looking around to make sure I got all the splatters cleaned up. It was kind of like a coconut milk crime scene.

Ingredients:
1 large spaghetti squash
Drizzle olive oil
Sea salt & ground black pepper

3 T. ghee, divided
1 onion (any type), chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms (about 10 large)
2 large chicken breasts
Sea salt & ground black pepper

1 can full fat coconut milk
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp organic chicken base (check the label to keep it paleo)
1/2 T. Dijon mustard (again, read your label to keep it paleo)
Sea salt & ground black pepper
1 T. nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Put in a 13x9 baking dish, cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil. Lightly sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add about a cup of water to the dish to preven burning. Bake for 40 minutes or until soft (mine was gigantic this time and took about 50 minutes, but 40 is the average for most of the squashes I buy).

While squash is baking, melt 1 T. ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until starting to carmelize. Add mushrooms and sautee until they are soft. Transfer from skillet to a plate or bowl.

Put chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat clever (a rolling pin or other solid object will work if you don't have a meat clever) until about 1/4 inch thick all the way around. Sprinkle each side lightly with salt & pepper.

Use the same pan you used for the onions and mushrooms and melt 2 T. ghee in the pan. Add chicken breasts so they are not overlapping, and cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in the middle. For you chefs with a well-stocked kitchen, that's at least 160 degrees on your meat thermometer. Transfer chicken to a clean cutting board.

Pour coconut milk directly into hot pan and whisk well. It will take a little patience for the residual ghee to blend into the coconut milk. Use a wooden spoon to scrape off any little chicken bits that stuck to the pan. Add sage, rosemary, chicken base, mustard, salt & pepper to the pan and whisk well. Let cook for about five minutes, whisking frequently, until sauce starts to thicken. Whisk in nutritional yeast, if using.

Chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Add chicken to coconut sauce, then stir in the mushrooms and onions. Heat through.

Use a fork to shred spaghetti squash (I use tongs to help transfer the squash shreds into a serving bowl). Serve chicken over spaghetti squash.