Image via WikipediaI made this dish as well and my husband could not stop raving about Barbo's recipe even a day or two later! I bought two more chayote squash yesterday and Ian inquired, "Oh, great can you make that scalloped chayote casserole again. I really liked that!" I was actually planning on making Barbo's latkes next. (smile) Barbo has been a friend to me ever since I first started low-carbing in 1999. We have never actually met in person, but the internet sure makes this a smaller world.
Image via WikipediaPotatoes Scalloped LC
Chayote
LOW-CARB SCALLOPED “POTATOES”
This
casserole has become a staple at our house; another winner from Barbara
(Barbo) Goldstein that I simply had to share. This
casserole is particularly good with Provolone cheese slices. I realize
not everyone lives in California or in South America where chayotes are as
common as potatoes, and even cheaper, but do keep an eye open for them.
They are a great substitute for potatoes.
Note: A
few people on Facebook pointed
out that chayotes in America are also called Mirlitons (pronounced
mill-y-tons). Go figure! One is never too old to learn something
new, I always say! Other people call them Chokos.
2 large chayote squash,
peeled and seeded
1 oz finely chopped onion
or shallot, (30 g)
(optional) - actually don't be tempted to skip this...it adds amazing flavor!!
1/2 tsp
salt, divided (2 mL)
1/4 tsp
black pepper, divided (1 mL)
Seasoning salt, to taste,
divided
4 oz cream cheese, divided
(125 g)
12 thin slices Provolone
cheese, divided,
OR cheese of choice
1 egg
1/2 cup
Hood® Calorie Countdown Milk,
OR (or use half cream and half water or half and half)
Carolyn’s Low-Carb Milk, page 18 (125 mL)
1/2 cup
whipping cream (125 mL)
1/2 tsp
baking powder (2 mL)
Use a mandoline or
knife to slice the squash thinly as for scalloped potatoes. In large pot, bring water to a boil and add
squash. Set timer for 12 minutes. Drain
squash. In greased 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33
cm) baking pan, layer half the chayote and onion. Sprinkle half salt and pepper over
chayote. Sprinkle lightly with seasoning
salt to taste. Dot with half the cream
cheese. Layer half the Provolone cheese,
OR cheese of choice over chayote; repeat process one more time.
In medium bowl, add
egg; beat with fork. Add Hood® Calorie Countdown Milk, OR Carolyn’s Low-Carb Milk,
page 18, whipping cream, Gluten-Free Bake Mix, page 71 and baking powder; mix well. Pour over chayotes and bake in 350°F (180°C) oven 35 to 40
minutes, or until golden brown.
Helpful Hints: Barbara cooks her squash in the
pressure cooker for 2 minutes. If you
can handle more carbs, increase the Gluten-Free Bake Mix by about 2 tbsp (30
mL).
Yield: 8 servings
1
serving
238.0
calories
13.5
g protein
18.3
g fat
3.6
g net carbs
ANOTHER RECIPE YOU MAY ENJOY (Also from Barbo)
SOME INTERESTING INFO WRITTEN BY JIMMY MOORE OF LIVIN' LA VIDA LOW-CARB FAME:
Early Human Diets
Long
before Twinkies, Frosted Flakes, and Coca-Cola were such a regular part of the
human diet, think about what our early ancestors ate to survive. This is many
years before the advent of agriculture and the only food that was available to
consume back then was what you could hunt and gather. During Paleolithic times,
it was not uncommon for men to use primitive weaponry to hunt down wild game
that could feed their family for weeks at a time. Meat and a few edible plants
were just about all these early humans were able to consume which means their
diet was naturally low in carbohydrates and higher in fat and protein. Some
would argue that humans are genetically adapted to eating a high-fat, moderate
protein, low-carb diet and that hearkening back to Paleo times with our
nutrition is what will help solve the obesity and chronic disease crisis of
modern man. There's a very strong subset of low-carb in today's society who
follow the concept of a Paleo diet that tends to be lower in carbohydrates and
higher in natural fats from real, whole foods. We'll meet some of today's
leaders in the Paleo movement in a few more pages. But first, let's take a look
at who helped put low-carb on the map!
The Low-Carb Diet Era Begins
Fast
forward from the days of Paleo into the late 18th Century when we begin to see
therapeutic uses for low-carbohydrate diets beginning to come to prominence.
We'll examine the work of these brave men over the past 200+ years who have
trumpeted low-carb and helped pave the way for the popularity this way of
eating enjoys today. You may know some of these people and others you may not
know so much about. But if you want to learn about how low-carb has evolved
chronologically leading up to the present day, then it's critically important
that you familiarize yourself with each of these men and their invaluable
contributions in examining and using carbohydrate-restriction as a therapeutic
means for getting healthier:
Dr.
John Rollo
In 1797, we first learn about the work of Dr. John
Rollo, a surgeon in the British Royal Artillery, who released a book, entitled An Account of Two Cases of the Diabetes
Mellitus. The book examines Dr. Rollo's treatment of two soldiers with
diabetes using a high-fat, low-carb diet. He saw quick reductions in the amount
of sugar in his patients' urine and blood; diabetic complications eliminated
and weight loss. This is long before the advent of prescription medications and
insulin therapies and was an important educational tool for physicians and
people suffering from the effects of primarily Type 2 diabetes. As a result of
the popularity of Dr. Rollo's book, the low-carb diet became the most common
way of treating diabetes in the 19th Century.
Jean
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
In 1825, an attorney and politician in France,
named Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, released his famous French language book Physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste) just weeks
before his death. Although his book went out of print very quickly, it was
translated into English by M.F.K. Fisher and first published in 1949 (and still
available on Amazon). Brillat-Savarin is widely considered as one of the
fathers of the low-carbohydrate nutritional approach. He believed that sugar
and white flour were the primary causes of obesity and that fat and protein
should be consumed instead. Additionally, he observed that meat-eating animals
did not get overweight but that plant-eating animals very quickly fatten up
consuming potatoes, grains and flours. He noted that humans who consume
"floury and starchy substances" as the main part of their diet will
"grow fat willy-nilly." It's a shame Brillat-Savarin never got to see
the tremendous impact that his work would have in the next two centuries.
William
Banting
In 1863, an English undertaker, named William Banting,
wrote what many consider the first bestselling low-carb diet book in the world
entitled Letter on Corpulence, Addressed
to the Public. In this booklet, Banting describes the changes he made to
his diet on the suggestion of his physician friend, Dr. William Harvey, who
knew about low-carb diets from their use in treating diabetic patients.
Banting's book was a firsthand account of the past failures of other diets he
had tried and why his brand of low-carb living was the one thing that finally
worked for him after years of frustration. He noted that he ate four meals a
day consisting of mostly meat, green vegetables, fruit and dry wine while
avoiding sugar, sweets, starch, beer, milk and butter. Although he only printed
a limited number of copies, the book became such an instant hit that it got
picked up by a London
publisher for future editions. The overwhelming success of Banting's book earned him a place in the
dictionary with bant which means
"to lose weight." Interestingly, Banting was an outcast amongst his
contemporaries who spread false claims about what his low-carb diet was doing
to his health. This would be a pre-cursor of exactly what would happen to
another popular low-carb diet advocate who would come along in the 20th century.
In 1888, the world was exposed to the creation of an
American physician from Upstate New York, named Dr. James Salisbury, who served
during the U.S. Civil War treating sick Union soldiers. He noticed that many of
them dealt unnecessarily with diarrhea which he said was a result of consuming
poisonous, starchy foods and vegetables and not enough meat. His idea was to
limit the intake of vegetables, fruit, starches and fats to one-third of the
diet and the rest should be meat. To encourage people to eat more meat for the
health benefits it provides, Dr. Salisbury introduced what he calls the
Salisbury steak -- ground beef mixed with egg, mushrooms, milk, onions and
seasoning and then fried or boiled. He believed consuming this low-carb food
option three times a day along with plenty of water would solve many of the
health problems people were suffering from, including obesity, heart disease,
mental problems and tuberculosis, among other conditions. Dr. Salisbury is
considered one of the early proponents of low-carb diets in America.