Buffalo Chicken Casserole : Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook Review

Shut. the. front. door. DAMNIT, Juli, you’ve done it again. I only say this out of jealousy and love. I’m serious, folks, Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook: Over 100 Gluten-Free Recipes to Help You Shine from Within totally knocks it out of the park. And over the next couple of towns counties states.

Juli’s new cookbook is nothing short of mind-blowingly amazing, whether you eat paleo or not. It’s so damn gorgeous and mouthwatering and makes me want to eat every single recipe in the book and be her best friend and steal borrow all her clothes.

Seriously you guys. I literally jumped and squealed for joy when I came back from a week-long vacation and found this on my doorstep. And let me tell you, I was not all too enthused to be (coincidentally) leaving such a beautiful, fun and amazing place as Colorado to jump on a plane for endless hours to come home at 2am. And then this cookbook happened.

Please excuse me while I gush over this cookbook a little a lot…until I’m blue in the face.

Lemme give it to you straight. Juli’s new cookbook is the equivalent of Tina Fey’s Bossypants, but in cookbook form. Add in some kickass, delicious, and mouthwatering pictures for her bomb recipes (props to Bill and Hayley of Primal Palate!), plus Juli’s genuine, signature sense of humor and sass that everyone knows and loves. And of course some awesome clothes and accessories so she can look fantastic doing it.

Now that’s my kind of cookbook.

Juli lets you into her world of her journey from starting out paleo and doing it all “wrong”, eating “clean” but bland food during the week and then bingeing on cookies and all kinds of non-paleo things on the weekends. Umm, been there, done that. Until she figured out that you can eat paleo, have your cake and eat it too. PALEO cake. Which doesn’t make you feel like sh*tballs. And I’m all for that. Feeling like sh*tballs is as awful as it sounds. Like sh*tballs.

After reading Juli’s blog for years and owning all three of her cookbooks, I feel like we would be pretty good friends. Mostly because anyone who starts a recipe description with “Raw cauliflower smells like farts…” would definitely appreciate my sense of humor. And hate for raw cauliflower. Plus she loves food just as much as I do. Which is really saying something.

But Dana, what about the recipes, you ask? It IS a cookbook, after all. Well, let me give you a little teaser here.

Those are apple fennel breakfast sausages. Let me tell you, I hate fennel with a fiery passion. Licorice is NOT my thing. But these things are f*cking DELICIOUS. I probably could’ve eaten the whole batch in one sitting.

Oh, and this little thing called Buffalo Chicken Casserole. Which is based on the most popular recipe on Juli’s site, the 5-ingredient Pizza Spaghetti Squash Pie which literally blew up the internet it was such a hit. So you KNOW it’s gotta be good.

Add a little paleo, dairy-free ranch dressing (also from the cookbook) and some hot sauce and BOOM taste bud explosion.

Honestly the hardest part is waiting for it to cool so you can eat it because you know it’s going to be so damn tasty but that pot is SO damn hot when you take it out of the oven. I couldn’t wait long enough to eat it and casually burned the roof of my mouth. But it was totally worth it.

The struggle was so real.

Know what other struggle was real? Deciding what recipes to make first. Because there are SO many drool-worthy ones in this cookbook. Um, hello Pulled Pork Benedict with Green Chile Hollandaise. Sticky Sesame Teriyaki Chicken Wings, Truffle Mushroom Burgers, Street fish Tacos…and Thai Coconut Chicken Salad? F yeah. And so many plantain recipes! You know how I LOVE plantains. Especially with chimichurri sauce. Mmm.

Did I mention the desserts and drinks section in the book too? oh yeah. Try these on for size: the most gorgeous, Layered Flourless Chocolate Cake I’ve ever seen, Samoa cupcakes (yes, you read that right), Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Ice cream, Frozen Mango Margaritas and Pomegranate Moscow Mules…

Are you salivating yet? I am. Did you also remember that all of this is grain, gluten, AND dairy-free (aka paleo) and you will NOT feel like sh*tballs after eating it?

Talk about amazing.

If I haven’t convinced you yet that you absolutely need Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook in your arsenal…I don’t know if we can still be friends. Um, hello. Did you READ everything I just wrote? FOOD. DELICIOUS FOOD. Epically food porn-y pictures. Juli being hilarious. In awesome outfits. What more do you need? Even if you don’t eat paleo. These recipes are ones you’ll make over and over again and love even more every single time.

Need more convincing? Okay, fine. I’ll give you a little preview. Because Juli is amazing and was nice enough to let me share the recipe for the Buffalo Chicken Casserole from her new book!

Buffalo Chicken Casserole from Juli Bauer's Paleo Cookbook

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 50 mins

Total time

2 hours 5 mins

 

Dana: Juli Bauer's Paleo Cookbook

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 2½ pounds)
• 4 Tbsp butter, ghee, or coconut oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• ½ medium yellow onion, minced
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• ½ - ⅔ cup hot sauce (Juli prefers Tessemae's or Frank's RedHot)*
• ¼ cup mayonnaise (homemade or store bought - Sir Kensington's or Primal Kitchen Foods are great brands)
• 3 large eggs, whisked
• sliced avocado, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the squash cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the skin gives when you press your finger to it. Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 F.
3. Grease a dutch oven or an 8-inch square glass baking dish with 2 Tbsp of the butter (or ghee/coconut oil).
4. Let the squash cool for 5 minutes, remove the seeds, and then use a fork to remove the threads and place them in the greased baking dish.
5. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter (or ghee/coconut oil). Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onion, and bell pepper and cook for about 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the ground chicken, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and cook, using a wooden spatula to break up the chicken into small pieces, until the chicken is no longer pink, about 8 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, then add the hot sauce and mayo and mix well to combine.
7. Add the chicken mixture to the baking dish and mix well with the squash threads. Add the whisked eggs and mix everything together until you can no longer see the eggs.
8. Bake for 1 hour or until the top forms a slight crust that doesn't give when you press it in the middle. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
9. Garnish with chopped scallion and avocado slices.

Notes

*The original recipe calls for 1 cup of hot sauce, but that was a little too spicy for me, so about ⅔cup was just right. I'd do ½ cup if you're sensitive to heat!
**Serve this with some of the ranch dressing from Juli's book. Holy WOW it was insanely good!

3.3.3077

Can’t wait until your book comes? Go check out Juli’s website, PaleOMG, for more delicious recipes, rants, fashion and frenchies (her adorable dog, Jackson!)