The Paleo Chef
The first few words of the book The Paleo Chef are promising…
“I love food!”
Pete Evans take on Paleo cooking is flavorful, ethnically diverse and delicious. His previous cookbooks are pretty popular and his traveling to various cultures to learn their cooking secrets is a plus that he continues to use in this book, although several of the recipes are merely adapted from his other books to the Paleo art form.
It’s always a plus that Evans is a certified chef and health coach, so we can trust that those of us who are looking to make gastronomic creations that feed our body well will receive good instruction from his book.
Oh yes, and the man is a walking billboard for health, cuteness and so something must be truth in this reading right? I mean come on! A barefoot all-American guy in distressed rolled-up jeans and a chef jacketon the cover! Who wouldn’t want to eat and look like him?
Aside from that photo, the food photos (always a plus for me) are vibrant and mouth watering looking and pull you right in.
I appreciate, as a Paleo novice, the instruction Evans gives us in the opening chapters about the Paleo way of eating and from these chapters, I came away with the hope that while I am a major food lover, I can still eat well as well as please my palate.
That said, the recipes look wonderful. Especially appealing to my ethnically diverse-loving taste buds are dishes like Nasi Goreng, (substituting cauliflower rice for rice), Shrimp Laksa, Chorizo & Seafood Paella, Jerk Chicken and Vietnamese Chicken Wings. There is even a dessert section with recipes for Key Lime Tart, and Apple Berry Crumble and oh my – Pumpkin Pie with Bacon Bark!
The only drawback to this book, as I’ve said before in other reviews, would be the search for exotic ingredients (which never deters me), for items like lemongrass, galangal, squid and dried chiles. However, with the various ethnic markets that are present in my home town and for anyone with an internet connection, they can be found if truly desired.
I look forward to trying the recipes in The Paleo Chef. Most seem simple enough for an intermediate cook….and that Shrimp Laksa is calling my name this weekend!
*** Added at a later date – unfortunately, I have now made a few of the recipes out this book. We made the Stir Fried Beef with Basil and it called for WAY too much fish sauce which really made us unable to eat it. We ended up throwing away some pricey grass fed beef.
Also made the Chopped Salad and it was OK but the dressing lacked something.
