As summer is now in full swing and we can start to gather with friends and family again, it is time for lighter meals that are bright, vibrant, flavorful and pair with a nice white wine. This dish is one of my favorites because it is so easy to  prepare even for a large group of 6 or 8, because it has essentially 3 components and it also allows you to feature great summer produce like squash. In this recipe I used bone in skin on chicken breast because the hard seard, crackling skin on chicken gives such a nice roasted flavor and leaves them meat tender and unctuous without adding a lot of unneeded butter or oil. For the Pesto I love to use Pine nuts or Pingole’s because they are so buttery and smooth when roasted and then pureed, which makes for a great texture to the sauce.

Thai cuisine has always been a go to of mine when it comes to explosions of flavor, from the shear depth and overwhelming umami flavors of Shrimp paste paired with the uplifting floral notes of lemon grass or the insane saltiness and incredibly pungent aroma of fish sauce paired with Thai basil and coconut. These flavors represent just a handful of the incredible array of spices and herbs Thai cuisine has to offer.

As is true with all good paella, the place to start is with a good sofrito. Sofrito; is the spanish name for the of the slowly cooked combination of chopped garlic onion and tomato which is reduced  slowly until the onions and garlic have lightly caramelized and turned translucent and the liquid from the tomatoes has almost completely evaporated leaving you with a flavor packed paste to start your paella off in the right direction. This serves as an important first step in the process and allows your paella to have a deeper more complex flavor profile which is especially important for our low carb variation because the cauliflower rice takes much less time to cook than a traditional rice paella would. Since the cauliflower rice cooks quite quickly it is important to coax as much flavor from your ingredients as you can before adding your cauliflower.

When I think of low carb recipes, I think of a lot of cheese, cream, and oils that are typical of a Keto type of diet. While eating a low carbohydrate diet is a great way to burn off excess fat in the body by instigating ketosis, dairy is known as one of the most inflammatory foods out there. There are many excellent fats we can use in place of dairy such as nuts, animal fats such as tallow and lard, and even avocado

Chickpea Protein Balls made with healthy ingredients like peanut butter and protein powder are perfect for a dessert or post workout treat.

I tasted my first Copper River Salmon June of 2000 while working in restaurants downtown Seattle, WA.  It was life changing to say the least. The color was such a deep and magnificent ruby red.  The flavor and texture melted like butter in your mouth. I was transformed.  It was expensive even back then at around $20/lb as it had already gained popularity in it's short 20 years on the market. It was definitely something I looked forward to treating myself to when it hit the store shelves.   Hard to believe it used to be tossed out or just canned and sold overseas.  Now days it's going for even steeper prices as it has gained in popularity and beckons a mass following of die-hard copper river salmon fans.

Being a chef I can honestly say I love most foods,  but for some reason I have never loved salmon. It’s ok. I guess I can say I like it, but I don’t “capital L” -love it, and I really don’t cook it at home for husband and I very often. So, when I got pregnant a few months ago, I knew I had to find a way to really enjoy salmon, because as most of us know, wild caught salmon is one of the best food sources of omega -3 fatty acids. ​

I took a trip to my local farmer’s market last weekend and found inspiration in so many gorgeous produce. I just wanted to buy everything!