I receive a lot of books to review. A LOT! I try to review as many as I can and and this one is for sure a winner! The Paleo Kitchen by George Bryant and Juli Bauer is beautiful, practical, and absolutely delicious with everything from tips on how to cook more efficiently to food storage ideas and of course the beautiful RECIPES!!! George and Juli simply understand good food and if you want to impress your friends and loved ones with this whole crazy “paleo thing” this book will do the trick!

Here’s a recipe that Geroge and Juli agreed to share with you from the book and of course you can find The Paleo Kitchen here on Amazon!

Enjoy!

Four Layer Beef and Bacon Casserole

Serves: 8

Prep Time: 35 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes + 5 minutes

½ pound (225 grams) bacon

For the sweet potato mash:

3 to 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes (1¼ pounds/560 grams)

¼ cup (60 mL) coconut milk

½ teaspoon dried sage

¼ teaspoon salt

For the cauliflower mash:

1 head cauliflower (1½ pounds/750 grams), chopped into florets

¼ cup (60 mL) coconut milk

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the ground beef mixture:

2 pounds (910 grams) ground beef

1 garlic clove, minced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

8 ounces (225 grams) button mushrooms, diced

salt and pepper, to taste

coconut oil, for greasing the baking dish

• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33-cm) baking dish.

• Place the bacon on a rimmed baking sheet, place in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until cooked through. Roughly chop the bacon. Set aside.

• Turn up the oven to 400°F (205°C). Poke holes in sweet potato with a fork. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft and easily pieced through with a knife. The time may range depending on the thickness of the sweet potatoes.

• While the potatoes are baking, steam the cauliflower. Once cauliflower is fork tender, place it in a food processor or blender and puree until cauliflower becomes soft and resembles mashed potatoes. Then add the coconut milk and salt and pepper and continue to blend until you have a smooth consistency. Remove from the blender and set aside. Clean out the blender for the sweet potato mash.

• When sweet potatoes are soft, remove their skins and place in the food processor or blender. Blend until the sweet potato breaks down, then add the coconut milk, sage, and salt and pepper and puree until smooth. Set aside for later.

• Lastly, place a large pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and break it apart with a wooden spoon. Once the meat begins to brown, add the garlic, yellow onion and button mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and continue to cook until the meat is cooked through, then remove the pan from heat.

• Create the layers: Use a slotted spoon to remove half of the meat mixture from the excess liquid in the pan and place in the prepared baking dish in one layer. Then pour the cauliflower mash mixture on top of the meat and spread out. Then, using the slotted spoon, add the other half of the meat on top of the cauliflower mash. Lastly, pour the sweet potato mash on top and spread it out on top of the meat.

• Turn oven down to 350°F (175°C) degrees. Place the casserole in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the casserole begins to bubble. Then turn on the broiler to high and cook for 5 minutes to brown the top of the casserole. Let rest to thicken and garnish with the bacon before serving.

George Bryant is the creative genius behind the wildly popular Paleo food blog Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations and New York Times Best Selling author of The Paleo Kitchen. After spending the first 20-something years of his life in a constant battle with his weight, and then nearly losing both his legs while deployed as a U.S. Marine, George took matters into his own hands and began his Paleo journey. What started as a simple place to post recipes for friends has since become an award-winning food blog. After serving in the Marines for 12 years, George now enjoys working full-time creating delicious Paleo recipes, hoping to change many lives for the better by making simple and tasty real food dishes.

Juli Bauer is a self-described foodie who creates Paleo versions of grain-filled favorites on her extremely successful blog PaleOMG as well as New York Times Best Selling Author of The Paleo Kitchen. She started the blog to help friends make the transition to Paleo a little more easily, only to see it grow from a few readers to more than 100,000 and counting in just eight months. The popularity of PaleOMG can be attributed to Juli’s refreshing honesty about her own trials and tribulations and to her mouthwatering recipes — and to her heartwarming personality. But what Juli loves most is having the opportunity to be a part of people’s lives through food. And Paleo food is what keeps us living longer and healthier, all together.