Paleo Chicken Tetrazzini

Ok so I can’t keep it a secret anymore. Well I wasn’t really hiding it, but I was too nervous to jinx anything. Yesterday I got lasik eye surgery. For the first time in almost two decades, I can see without glasses or contacts. I simultaneously want to scream joyously at the top of my lungs and cry my eyes out. I have, well had, terrible vision. I was considered legally blind without my contacts. I started wearing glasses at seven, and my eyes just continued to get worse. For my 10th birthday, I begged my parents to let me have contacts. Anymore I rarely wore my glasses, but to get lasik I had to wear them for almost a month! I’m happy to say it was completely worth it!! I can’t even describe what it is like to be able to see. I thought glasses and contacts would always be a defining characteristic for me. Not anymore.

Ok so now that I have gushed enough, let’s get to the food. Growing up this was one of my mom’s go-to dishes, and I hated it. Now you might be wondering why I would recreate a dish I don’t even like. Well in the many years since I was a child my tastebuds have changed immensely. One of the biggest changes is that I now like mushrooms. I figured why not give one of my childhood nemesis a go. I have challenged my tastebuds on other dishes I used to hate and found most of them I like. Except for peas. Yuck. I’m sorry I just can’t. Thankfully this dish was a winner, and I must apologize to my mom for all my complaints as a child. 

Ingredients

1/2 spaghetti squash, approximately 4 cups

2 cups shredded chicken, leftover or from a rotisserie chicken

1 tsp ghee, I use OMghee brand

2 cups mushrooms, sliced 

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup green bell pepper

 3 oz jar pimentos, drained

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp flavor god everything*

1 tsp flavor god garlic lovers*

1 tsp sea salt, more to taste

1 tsp pepper, more to taste

3 eggs, beaten 

*If you don’t have flavor god, use this seasoning blend in place of both. 

1 1/4 tsp garlic powder 

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 dried basil

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash lengthwise and remove the seeds and string bits from the middle with a spoon. Pop in the oven on a baking sheet rind side up for 35-40 minutes or until you can easily pierce the flesh with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool until you can pick the squash up by hand or with an oven mitt on. Take a fork and run it lengthwise along the squash’s flesh to create “noodles.”

Lower oven to 350 degrees. While spaghetti squash is cooking, boil cashews in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. In a large skillet sauté onion, bell pepper and mushrooms in ghee until mushrooms have cooked down. Once cashews are done, mix cashews, 3/4 cup cashew cooking water, chicken stock, flavor god everything, garlic lovers, salt and pepper in a blender until smooth. In a large bowl, mix shredded chicken, mushroom, bell pepper, onion, pimentos, cashew mixture and eggs. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish. Pour everything into dish and cook for 55 minutes to an hour.

Enjoy!

x vanessa

Food styling by: Rachel Apple