Chili—ashili—as it should be

Chili—ashili—as it should be

You can start a pretty heated argument with certain people about whether chili should or shouldn’t have beans in it. Our vote is pretty obvious. Sitting down to a bowl of this on a cold winter day just seems right. Double or triple the batch for big parties. Perhaps...
Tom kha gai

Tom kha gai

As I mentioned in the beginning of this book, I was fortunate enough while living in Los Angeles to befriend some chefs who are way more talented/knowledgeable than me. Chef Jet Tila is one such person. Jet is the executive chef at the Wynn Encore’s Wazuzu restaurant,...
Gingered butternut squash soup

Gingered butternut squash soup

Ah, butternut squash . . . fall comfort food, or baby food made acceptable for adults? Your choice. However, in the fall when squashes are abundant, this soup is a perfect start off to a dinner party. What I love about this soup is that it’s super easy to tweak the...
Tomato and orange salad

Tomato and orange salad

This recipe stems from my days working with Melanie and Taji of Simple Gourmet—way before I had ever heard of paleo. I think one summer we must have had close to fifty groups make a variation of this recipe for their culinary team-building events. Regardless of how...
Simple shrimp salad

Simple shrimp salad

Eating a hearty beef stew when it’s 90 degrees in the shade isn’t really my cup of tea. Summer is typically chock full of salads and things that have little to no heat required—save for grilled items. Shrimp salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, these are all great...