Have you met Kate Criswell from www.KatesHealthyCupboard.com ?  Kate is the one who started me on my plantain kick with her recipe for plantain “tortilla” chips.  It was only natural for me to follow-up with an invitation to create a guest recipe post!  And I’m so glad that Kate accepted!  Kate’s follows a gluten-free, dairy-free (paleo/primal-inspred) diet and many of her recipes are completely paleo.  She aslo owns her own nutrition bar line – Vixibar.  Visit her blog  for more great recipes or follow her on Facebook or Pinterest.  

As many of you know, I have used plantains as a base for some of my recipes. I quickly found that plantains have a bit of a corn taste to them when cooked. When I made this “Tortilla” Chip Recipe, I knew I had found a corn meal replacement…and a substitute for my corn tortilla chip addiction! A couple years ago, tortilla chips were my go to snack since they were gluten free. Today, I won’t touch anything made with corn for many reasons, including that it can be irritating to the gut and it’s one of the main GMO foods sold today!

Recently I created a simple Grain Free “Corn” Tortilla Recipe made from roasted plantain chips ground into a meal. This got the creative juices flowing…what else can I make with “corn” meal? How about some skillet corn bread to serve along side your favorite soups and stews this winter (maybe try The Paleo Mom’s Hearty Beef Stew, Offal (But Not Awful) Stew or Paleo Pumpkin Chili)! This dense bread was a huge hit served straight from the oven with some grass-fed butter!

Recipe: Grain Free Skillet “Corn” Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups Honeyville Almond Flour
• 1 cup roasted plantain chip meal*
• 2 pastured eggs (I order from Tropical Traditions)
• 2 1/2 tbsp grass-fed butteror ghee
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp honey (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Combine the flour, plantain meal, soda and salt in a bowl
3. Cut 1 1/2 tbsp of cold butter into small pieces and toss into the flour mixture. With hands, work the butter into the mixture so it’s crumbly
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, lemon juice, vinegar and honey
5. Melt the remaining 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat in a cast iron skillet
6. Dig a little hole in the center of your flour mixture and pour the egg mixture in the flour. Mix until a dough is formed
7. Turn off the skillet. Make sure the melted butter is covering the entire bottom of the skillet
8. Place the ball of dough in the center of the skillet and press down until it’s about an inch and a half high
9. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes

Quick notes

*About 2 cups of chips yields 1 cup of meal. Roasted plantain chips can be found in the bulk section at Sprouts or in the pre-packages bulk section of Whole Foods. They should only contain plantains, palm oil and salt.  If you can’t find them in stores, try these ones from Amazon.

Variations

Solidified coconut oil may work in place of the butter, but I have not tried that.

Feel free to spice this up with some jalapenos or other spices!