by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move

I woke up hungry this morning. Starving actually.  And then I remembered there was a way to satisfy my taste buds and my belly for every craving I had via up and coming culinary healthy food expert, Chef Kathy Fang who recently reached out with some very toothsome ideas.  Of course, it’s bikini season and I personally am not ready to “kiss off” 6 months of workouts for one sloppy calorie & carb loaded meal; which is why these are perfect.  Easy to prepare and totally scrumptious…and yes…you can try them at home. In fact, you should!

Summer is here and you know what that means – outdoor entertaining, lighter eating, salads, smoothies, ice blending and grilling everything in sight. Kathy’s passion for food and experimenting in the kitchen has resulted in healthful, balanced takes on everyone’s favorite recipes without having to suffer any loss of flavor.  She’s been enlivening the San Francisco food scene at her family owned Fang Restaurant establishing herself as a culinary force and personality in one of the most competitive food scenes in the world, and her mouthwatering blog, MyFangalicious.com is a “to salivate over” foodie heaven montage.

We love Kathy here at Gia On The Move for not only sharing recipes and ingredient ideas, but also providing tips for exercise and activities that promote a healthy lifestyle.

Here are her Top 5 Summer Fare and Entertaining Tips:

 Best Foods for Summer Cooking

Fruit – Stone fruits like nectarines, peaches and plums in salads or grilled and tossed over salads or proteins.

Vegetables – Lentils & quinoa. These hearty legumes and grains are a perfect base for cold dishes or warmed up and served alongside grilled seafood. They’re especially tasty lightly dressed with high quality olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and fresh herbs.

Seafood – Think prawns, crab, light flavored fishes, scallops (branzino, dover sole, sand dabs). Grilling or steaming these proteins creates a flavorful and healthy main dish.

Tips & Tricks that Make Summer Entertaining Easy

Cold Dishes – Any cold dish can be made the night before, creating less work and time in the kitchen the day of your celebration.

Casual & Build Your Own – People tend to enjoy wonderful weather over a family-style meal, where each person dishes up his or her own plate. By building your own tacos, gyros and salads or grilling your own meats, vegetables, fruits and providing fun accoutrements like assorted nuts, candied nuts, dried fruits or healthy seeds like flax, chia or even toasted quinoa, everyone is presented with a wide variety of choices and a fun, interactive dining experience.

Cheese and Meat Plates – These are huge hits if you get creative and put some thought to it. Rather than the usual cheese boards with salami and brie, go to a cheese shop and find unique cheeses of all sorts. Find interesting charcuterie, some that you may not have even tried. Turn it into a night of discovery. Compare French cheeses to Italian to Spanish, etc. Buy some amazing baked goods and breads and warm them up to serve alongside wine pairings.

Best Dips

• Hummus made with garbanzo or edamame with crudité
• Cooling Mint/ Dill in sour cream with pita chips
• Avocado Egg salad with rice crackers
• Smoked Salmon with whipped lemon cream cheese and    potato crisps
• Tuna Poke Dips with rice crackers

Perfect Picnic Dish

• Mason Jar Salads: Simply layer the following and served different dressings on the side. Friends can dress as they’d like and shake it up!
• Fruit – fresh raspberries or grapefruit; dried clementine’s or dried apples (rather than the typical cranberry or raisin)
• Seeds – pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, flax seeds, puffed quinoa
• Veggies – cucumber, jicama or fennel, bean sprouts
• Dressing – Light, refreshing dressings with fresh ginger, citrus and soy
• Shrimp – bring pre-boiled, cooled shrimp to dip in a miso dip with scallions rather than cocktail sauce
• Cold sesame noodles – Make the night before and add sauce
• Duck salad with Thai basil, ginger, green onions, bean sprouts and peanuts

Best Summer Wine Pairings

•  Rosé – Domaines Ott, Rosé. It’s slightly minerally and crisp with a soft hint of fruit in it.
•  Riesling – A great summer wine that goes well with food that has a little spice to it.

Summer Burrata Salad

Ingredients: Serves 1
2 heirloom tomatoes, one yellow and one red or orange in color (choosing different colors will make a more colorful salad/presentation)
3 Early Girl Tomatoes (they are smaller than the heirloom and a lot sweeter) This helps add another element to the salad
1 nectarine
1 pack of fresh burrata
olive oil for drizzling
sea salt
black pepper
balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon minced italian herbs or pesto

Method:
1. Slice all your heirloom tomatoes and nectarine into small thin pieces.
2. Place your heirloom in the middle of the plate.
3. Flank the heirloom with the Early Girl tomatoes
4. Place the nectarines on top of the heirloom.

5. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic. Season with a few cracks of fresh black pepper and sea salt
6. Top with burrata and drizzle olive oil and balsamic on it as well as season it a tiny bit with pepper and salt
7. Dollop one teaspoon with minced herbs or pesto

8. Serve!!!!

Crab Salad with grilled peaches and cranberry crostini 

 Ingredients: Serves 2
2 cups dungeness crab meat (no shells)
4 cranberry crostini or any kind of crostini
2 whole ripe but somewhat firm peaches pitted

2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper
1 box of mixed greens (1/2 lb)
optional (sesame seed garnish)

Dressing for the greens: Raspberry Vinaigrette
2 tablespoon raspberry jam
3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Crab Salad Dressing
1 tablespoon mustard
3 tablespoon light mayo or olive oil based mayo
2 tablespoon herb paste ( or you can finely chop fresh herbs: parsley, dill, tarragon)
salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon or 3 teaspoon yuzu (japanese citrus)
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of garlic salt

Method:
1. Pit and slice your peaches – season your peaches with the honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar
2. Heat a grill pan to high heat and drizzle olive oil

3. Place the seasoned peaches on it and start caramelizing it.

4. Start your crab salad by adding all the ingredients for the dressing into the bowl along with the crab

5. Stir everything together
6. Set the crab salad aside and flip the peaches over so you grill both sides

7. Plate your greens on a plate and drizzle your raspberry vinaigrette over it
8. Once you finish grilling the peaches plate them over the greens and pile the crab salad on top and to the side
9. Add a few cracks of fresh black pepper, a small pinch of sesame seeds and garnish with the cranberry crostini

10. Dig into that creamy crab salad with the sweet warm peaches and that crispy crostini! You’ll be in summer heaven

Best Smoothie Recipes

Fruit Roll-up (Non-dairy)

This is so delicious it reminds me of my love for a fruit-roll up as a kid. It has the same berry flavor that is tart but yet sweet at the same time!

Fresh Raspberries

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The Great Grape Smoothie