LASAGNA! Oh, my word – it’s one of the most heavenly things on Earth in my humble opinion. The layers upon layers of yumminess – it’s enough to make you cry with delight. I have made about a million different forms of lasagna over the years, and this is a super-easy one to add to…
What IS Keto? Just the Basics of the Ketogenic Diet
“What is the ketogenic diet?” is a question I keep getting asked. People see me crushing my goals with a smile on my face and want to know what the secret is! A huge part of it is eating ketogenically, and you, my friend, are about to get schooled in the delicious basics! What is…
Smooth Operator, Part One: Hi(gh), Fiber! How to Get Enough in Your Diet
Any remotely health-oriented food label these days proudly displays the fiber content of the food within. We hear vague reasoning about its benefits on heart and colon health and cholesterol lowering properties, and I think pretty much everybody has come to believe that fiber is a GOOD thing. Still, most Americans do not even get…
Getting Saucy with Chef Nicole: Sweet & Spicy Satay Sauce
Everybody loves satay sauce. Sweet and nutty with a little kick – (kinda like Chef Nicole herself!) – it’s also very easy to modify to accommodate most common allergies or dietary restrictions. In the gluten free, dairy free recipe below, you will find options listed to make your satay sauce keto and/or Paleo. Getting Saucy with…
CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE – Amazingly Delicious Allergen Free Chocolate Layer Cake
When I was a little girl, a birthday party in our family meant one thing: Wacky Cake. Chocolate cake, cooked in a 13″ x 9″ pan with cornstarch-cocoa-sugar-water stovetop frosting, accompanied by two bags of chips and two bottles of orange soda. BOOM! Party time, and the cake always flew out of the pan, it…
Presto, Pesto! Zucchini Noodle Salad Genovese with Kabocha, Kalamatas, and Pine Nuts
Genoa, Italy inspired me with her simple yet amazing cuisine. A restaurant could put three ingredients I’d never expected to see together on a plate with an extra drizzle of olive oil, and I was enchanted! Octopus + potatoes + sweet peppers = delicious. Cod + black olives + parsley = amazing! But my mind…
Like White on (Cilantro & Cauliflower) Rice
I thought I screwed up. I winced to myself as I opened up the rice cooker and realized that I had just made over 6 cups of cooked rice for a family of two adults and three kids who were also being served a huge salad, fresh bread, shrimp and chicken in a tangerine-honey sauce, sugar…
Chef Nicole’s Pad Thai – Basic Street Noodles, Spa-Style
By now, you may have guessed that I’m teaching you how to make the healthiest version of Thai cuisine possible – fresh, clean, made with whole foods, and scrumpdiddlyumptious. It would be an absolute shame to not tackle that most ubiquitous of all Thai dishes, Pad Thai, loved by children and adults alike! We’ll be…
Nourishing the Belly and the Soul – Project Glimmer 2014
I am compelled by some unnameable force to nourish others – this is why I am a chef by vocation, and also why I try and devote at least a little part of my time, success, and earnings to giving back to the community. The primary way that I do this is participating as a caterer…
Multiple Food Restrictions? No Problem!
Whenever you gather a group of people to eat together these days, there is always at least one food allergy, intolerance, or dislike to contend with. As a chef, I find it important to be as educated about as many different restrictive diets as possible in order to prepare decadent, delicious, healthy meals with a…