Cassava or Yucca Root (with Fish "Tacos")

My husband and I are trying the Paleo diet for a month. No-to-low carbs, no added sugar, no dairy, and a lot of fresh meat and produce. Giving up potatoes and rice is hard work! We decided to try something new, a high starch root called cassava or yucca. I read a bit about it first because I wasn't sure what to expect. The first thing you need to know is that you should never eat it raw. It contains toxic substances when raw, but do cook out. The next thing to know is that it goes off quickly. For that reason, I wanted to make it as soon as we could, which turned out to be 2 days after purchasing it. Our yucca had a waxy coating like you'd see on turnips to help keep it fresh, but even then you can see that it was already going off. The brown end was rotting and I had to throw it out. Luckily, the rest of the root was fine.

I decided to go with this recipe for "Yucca With Garlic Sauce." Yucca itself doesn't have much flavour, but it soaks up the flavours around it nicely. It had a nice smell when peeling and cutting it, but is pretty bland when cooked plain. I read that it goes mushy, but I was still surprised at the texture. It was soft, yet very dry like if you roasted a potato for too long. I expected it to be softer like a sweet potato. In the recipe I linked, the first part of the directions seems to be missing something. I assumed it meant to boil in water with the juice of one lime added to it. The yucca sucked up that lime juice, but because it was so diluted, it was very pleasant, just the right amount. The garlic sauce... well, the name is misleading. It's more like lemon onions with very little sauce to be seen. The lemon was very strong, and I can't decide if that's good or bad. I liked how the strong flavour was on the onions and mixed in with the yucca and not overpowering the yucca itself.

One little change I made to the recipe was I cooked the onions and garlic in about a tablespoon of coconut oil. And then when everything was cooked and tossed together, I added a drizzle  (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil when it came off the heat, just to make it paleo friendly. This recipe was a great introduction to yucca and I'm glad we went out and tried something new. I definitely want to make yucca again, and I really want to try adding it to a soup or stew. I think it would be awesome in the slow cooker.

We had the yucca with some super awesome tilapia my husband cooked. It's always a treat when he cooks for me. The fish was amazing. He marinated it and then coated it in a mix of coconut flakes and coconut flour.

We made fish "tacos" with the tilapia. My husband made a spicy mayo dill sauce, a tomato sauce, and we added avacado. Yum yum! The whole meal was very filling! I didn't make it through both tacos.