Riyenu Recipe from Guam Chamoru Potato Stuffing - Riyenu Keto-fied

Two of my sister-in-laws are from the Island of Guam, Emily and Eleanor, identical twins, they are a beacon of light and joy everywhere they go.  I am so grateful to have them in my life.  We were actually friends even before we became family.  I worked with Eleanor and Emily at our local church and I have always been inspired by their bubbly personalities and encouraging hearts.  We even traveled together on a church missions trip to Africa before we were all married, little did we know then, that we would all marry into the same family.  Eleanor and I shared a twin bed while in Africa, although we only knew each other less than six months we would rather sleep together than on the floor with the giant bugs.  

Yes you read that right, identical twin sisters who married brothers. Eleanor married Steve the eldest of the Briggs Family, two years later I married Jeff and became a Briggs.  In our wedding I had Emily as a bridesmaid and the groomsmen she stood with was Joel, one of Jeff's brothers, Emily and Joel married two years after standing in our wedding.  That is how we are all related.  

The Island Twins started doing these "30 Day Challenges" on Facebook Live.  For a double dose of encouragement to brighten your day follow them on their Facebook Page at Island Twins.  They started with a 30-Day Walking Challenge and it was so great to see them inspire so many to walk daily.  Then they did a Strength Training Challenge where they shared the Nitric Oxide Dump, which is an excellent simple exercise with so many health benefits which if you want to know more click here https://bit.ly/3almmWq. I am going somewhere with this I promise.  Another challenge they took on was a 30-Day Cooking Challenge, where they cooked from a Chamoru Cookbook, cooking foods they grew up eating on Guam.   Want to try some Chamoru Cuisine yourself? You can find the cookbook they cooked out of online at ChamoruCuisine.com.

On one of the Cooking Challenge Days they made a Chamoru Potato Stuffing called Riyenu.  This stuffing looked yummy, colorful, and vibrant.  My sister-in-laws kindly shared a plate of the delicious foods they made with our family.  After trying Riyenu, I wanted to see if I could make a Keto-friendly version.  Obviously potatoes are not keto-friendly, so I thought I would substitute with a jicama.  Jicama is a great potato substitute, my husband and I have made jicama fries and loved them. It calls for toasted bread, I used Keto Bread I get at Costco.  There are only two other ingredients I had to leave out, raisins and pineapple juice, everything else in this dish is keto-friendly.  

I did not have the recipe book so I just improvised from their Facebook video.  This Chamoru Stuffing is a great side dish, this would be a wonderful changeup to your typical stuffing for Thanksgiving.  I have actually made a Keto-Friendly Cauliflower Stuffing before, if you are not a cauliflower fan, Riyenu would be great because it uses ground beef.  Well on to my Keto version of Riyenu. 

Riyenu Recipe Keto-fied

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 Jicama

1 Yellow Sweet Onion diced (use sweet since we are omitting the pineapple juice and raisins)

4 Stalks of Celery diced

2 Types of Bell Pepper diced (Yellow & Orange would be prettier, I used Green & Red, that is what I had on hand).

2 Small Jars of Pimentos (which did you know pimentos are brined bell peppers?)

1 Small can of Chopped Black Olives

1/3 Cup of Sweet Relish (You could substitute diced pickles to make even lower in carbs).

4 slices of toasted Keto Bread cubed

If you wanted to make this traditional you would use diced fried potatoes instead of the Jicama and add some pineapple juice and golden raisins.  

Directions:

There are different steps that you can do ahead of time, to shorten the prep and cooking time.  You also do not have to do all these steps in the exact order, you are simply cooking each part of the recipe and then combining all the ingredients at the end. While there are quite a few steps I only used two pans and then the dish I placed it in the oven with.

1.  Peel and Dice the Jicama, fry in oil till a light crispy brown to resemble fried potatoes. Drain and set aside on paper towels.

2.  In same pan, saute Onion in butter, set aside in larger pot once caramelized and sweet.

3.  In the same pan, cook Ground Beef, season with salt and pepper, drain and set aside in a larger pot that you will combine all ingredients in.

4.  Saute celery and two types of bell pepper diced for 7 minutes in 2 Tablespoons of Butter.  

5.  To sauteed celery and bell peppers add in drained jars of pimentos, 1/3 Cup of Sweet Relish and can of chopped olives, add another Tablespoon of Butter.  Combine.

6.  To the celery and bell pepper mixture add in Cubed Toasted Keto Bread. 

7.  Pour the sauteed celery, bell peppers, pimentos and olives into large pot with ground beef and onions.  Combine all ingredients and mix.

8.  Add in Diced, Fried Jicama and  combine.  I did not add any liquid, I think the butter and steam from everything was enough.  They used the pineapple juice at this point. You could use chicken broth or a splash of Almond Milk.  I did not think mine needed any liquid.

9.  Pour all ingredients in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I think this could easily be dinner in a bowl, that is how I ate it, my husband wanted to know what else we were eating with it.  Totally up to you, I guess stuffing typically is a side dish.  Riyenu is traditionally served at Festivities, Celebrations and Holidays and served alongside Roast Pork, Turkey or Ham.  I took some fresh made to the Island Twins to try and they enjoyed it, I hope you will give a try and enjoy a taste of Guam.  I have had so much fun sharing about my sister-in-laws and this Chamoru Recipe, maybe I will try another one and tell you about the time Eleanor and I were pulled over when she was nine months pregnant.  

Guam is an island in the Pacific Ocean, 5,800 miles West of San Francisco, and 1,600 miles East of Manila. Guam has a tropical climate with temperatures averaging between 70-90 degrees. Native Guamanians are called Chamorros, they have Malayo-Indonesian decent which is a mixture of Spanish, Filipino, Mexican and other Asian ancestries.  The Chamoru language uses many Spanish words and I find many cultural similarities with my hispanic culture. 

I love learning from other cultures, I love trying the foods, learning about the people and language.  One thing I found interesting is I had to Google is it Chamorro or Chamoru, I learned Chamorro is used widely when writing in English and Chamoru when writing in the native tongue.  You can read more about that on GuamPedia.com.

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