When I was around 4 years old, my parents moved us to Paris. We weren’t there long, but if I’m connecting the dots, Steve Jobs-style, I would be remiss to discount the experience as anything less than an essential stepping stone in my food journey. I forgot the language quickly upon my return. But the smells stuck with me, and still do to this day – the roasting chestnuts, caramelizing sugar on the crepe griddle, and the bread. Oh, the bread.

But for all the sense memories, I rarely cook French food in my kitchen. It just feels too fussy, too pretentious. Hold the beurre blanc and just give me a wedge of lemon for my sole. However, there are two recipes that I’ve been wanting to highlight on this site for their ease and satisfaction. And today we’re killing both of those culinary birds with one stone (one, quite literally).

Chicken paillard is thinly pounded chicken breasts that are then grilled. There are plenty of variations, but the central concept is fairly simple. Salad nicoise is one of my favorite main course salads. You’d think, given that I’m gluten-free and can’t have sandwiches on the majority of menus, that I’d eat more salads than I do. But it takes a special kind of salad to get my attention. So when Food Network gave us “salads with lettuce” this week as our theme, my mind went straight to Nicoise. And because the idea of eating just salad for lunch made my stomach want to eat itself, I immediately thought of combining the salad in some way with chicken paillard. Continue reading →

Fried rice is one of the few take-out delicacies I actually make more at home than I order off a menu. It’s actually the leftover rice from my much more frequent veggie green curry orders that gives me the impetus to make fried rice in the first place.

In the spirit of helping you find healthier ways of eating your favorite comfort foods, I wanted to share with you a Thai version of fried rice that I resort to often. There’s no soy sauce, which is nice for the gluten-free set. And, at least in my version, there’s no egg. As with most Thai food, it’s the fish sauce that gives the whole dish that certain something something that you can’t quite put your finger on.

Back in high school, I spent a summer in Thailand. I ate fried rice and pad Thai three meals a day. They served it everywhere, at any time. And I have very vivid memories of eating rice out of a plastic bag at a gas station for breakfast. My favorite part of authentic Thai street cooking, and what sets it so far apart from what you’ll get at a restaurant here, is that they barely season their basic dishes. You’re expected to doctor your own plate to achieve that perfect mix of spicy, salty, sweet, and sour. At every table, there was a lazy Susan full of condiments for each of these categories. You rarely need to sprinkle sugar over your pad Thai in the States. But at the gas stations, I went to town.

Fish sauce was always the condiment I ended up dousing my food with the most. It has a funky flavor, but you wouldn’t necessarily identify the fishiness if it wasn’t the sauce’s namesake. I add a lot of it to this radish and basil fried rice, and little else. And even though I’m usually just making it for myself, I like to serve fried rice with the bottle of fish sauce right next to me, alongside siracha and limes for those who need the added heat and tang. Continue reading →