Today we have a guest post by a member of our Paleo Parents Team, Amelia. In this post she addresses a fairly new buzz topic in the paleo community: resistant starch. In addition to explaining a bit about why starch can be benificial in a paleo template, she also offers a wonderful new recipe that has (GASP) white potatoes! More and more people who identify themselves as “Paleo” are including this starchy, white, lovely tuber in their diet, and feeling no shame or guilt. Although they might have first been considered “not-paleo,” the general opinion on that is changing, and Amelia helps explain why.
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Have you noticed all the talk about Resistant Starch?
As someone who discovered Paleo from a low carb perspective, starch became somewhat of a dirty word in my world. I have to admit that I was a pretty hardcore carb-phobic for quite some time. I then discovered the Perfect Health Diet and my views started to change. I gave it a shot last year, incorporating some white potatoes and rice into my diet. It seemed to go well at first, then came the crushing carb cravings that made me feel crazy all over again like my pre-Paleo days. No good. Things have been going a lot better this year, mostly due to a shift in focus.
Also, it turns out I was missing a big piece of the puzzle, namely: Resistant Starch (RS). Mark Sisson has explained much of the new info that has been coming out on the benefits of RS in his Definitive Guide and Your Questions Answered posts. He also has some great advice for How to Experiment with RS.
For my purposes, it’s meant incorporating some green bananas (mostly in my morning smoothie) as well as cooked/cooled white rice and potatoes. The cooking and cooling is key for forming the good-gut-bug-loving RS in the cooked foods. Luckily, you can reheat them again before eating so I’m not doomed to gobbling up starch right out of the fridge.
This change has made all the difference. The RS has had a great appetite regulating effect that leaves me full faster and longer, without sending me into a carb binge. I suspect my own gut flora isn’t the healthiest after a lifetime of the Standard American Diet and then pretty rigid low carb for several years. It needs time and probiotics as well as the prebiotics available in RS to get back on track. It’s a process. As a result, I don’t supplement with RS by way of Potato Starch as some do, but choose to stick with whole food sources, which I seem to tolerate well. If I have too much, I get very bloated and uncomfortable at this point.
Since I’m a big fan of the weekly cook-up, it’s been quite natural for me to roast up a few white potatoes and make a batch of rice (good old Uncle Ben’s Original has the most RS – who knew?) with homemade chicken stock on Sunday, so that it can cool down for at least 24 hours before I start to eat it throughout the following days. It makes adding a good dose of RS to my meals a no-brainer.
But sometimes, I want something a bit fancier — enter: the Spiralizer. It’s not just for zucchinis anymore 🙂 I decided to use it on some white potatoes and this Rotisserie Chicken Quiche recipe was born.
My husband and I both prefer chicken legs and thighs so I’m always looking for creative things to do with the breast meat. This definitely fits the bill. I also was able to use the leftover zucchini nubs from making spiralized zucchini noodles the previous day. I love the idea of not wasting a things – you know I made some delicious chicken stock from the bones, too. Yes, I’m officially THAT lady. Oh, well. At least the food tastes good!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs lard or fat of choice, divided
- 4 medium White Potatoes peeled and made into noodles with a Spiralizer
- 2 tsp Garlic powder, divided
- 9 large Eggs (two for crust, the rest for the filling)
- 1 cup Coconut Milk
- 1.5 cups chopped Zucchini
- 1.5 cups shredded Rotisserie Chicken Breast
- 2 tsp dried Thyme
- Salt and pepper
- 4 small Onions, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Using 1 Tbs of the lard, grease two glass pie pans and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat two of the eggs with 1 tsp garlic powder and a couple shakes of salt and pepper.
- Add the spiralized potato noodles to the egg mixture and toss to coat the noodles.
- Transfer half the mixture into each of the pie pans, using a piece of parchment paper to press the noodles into a crust shape in each pan.
- Bake both crusts for 15 minutes to harden.
- While the crusts bake, mix the remaining ingredients in the same large bowl (except the onions and other Tbs of lard).
- When the crusts are just starting to harden and turn a golden brown, remove them from the oven.
- Add half the filling to each crust, return the pans to the oven, and bake an additional 20 minutes.
- While the quiches are baking, heat the other Tbs of lard in a large skillet on medium-low, add the sliced onions, and let cook, stirring often, until caramelized.
- When the quiches are almost baked through, remove from the oven, add the caramelized onions, and return to the oven for a final 10 minutes for the onions to settle in and brown a bit more on top.
- Remove quiches from the oven and let cool before putting them into the refrigerator.
- For maximum RS, wait 24 hours before cutting, reheating, and eating (although it will taste just fine right away if you don't want to wait!)
