Peek inside the pantry of a California Chef that moved to France
A Real (Food) Kitchen Interview with Sonja from Cooking in Color
I recently had the joy of working with
from Cooking in Color, and she brought her vibrant self to the table with a series of questions for me…about my kitchen!! So much fun. So, I’d love to share this Q&A with my readers, for anyone who is curious about what a home kitchen looks like for a chef living in France.Before we dive in — I welcome you to join me for a live, free cooking class this coming Tuesday 9/9 at 11:00am PST! The theme is Build A Balanced Bowl with our community in The Blood Sugar Method, to nail down cooking tricks and health tips to eating a delicious meal and feeling great afterwards. Plus, we get to learn about regenerative farming with the founders of StarWalker Organic Meat!
And here we go!
Sonja:
Welcome to Real (Food) Kitchens, a series from Cooking in Color where we peek inside the fridges, pantries, and freezers of some of my favorite real food humans — home cooks, nutritionists, and everyday foodies who make nourishing meals with what they have on hand. Not just the perfectly curated “what I eat in a day” videos on Instagram, but the real stuff. My hope is that these glimpses spark ideas, introduce you to new products or brands, and remind you that there’s no one right way to COOK IN COLOR!
Let’s start with some background. Meet Anja!
My sixth guest is Anja Lee Hall! We met through the beauty of being connected by our friend Beth Bollinger (S/O Beth) and bonded over our passion of colorful foods. Since then I’ve loved connecting with Anja over zoom and voice messages!
Anja is such a fun guest for this series because she’s a seasoned chef currently living in Biarritz, France, after spending 15 years in San Francisco. She had a catering company for 10 years - cooking for weddings, celebrities and professional athletes, including the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. She’s been on the Food Network in cooking competitions twice (and won!), and she has a cookbook sold in Whole Foods across the US!
I was very intrigued how her approach to cooking healthy, blood sugar balanced meals has changed (or not!) since living in France, and this interview is a reminder that it’s possible to cook in color, and eat healthy, vibrant, blood sugar friendly meals anywhere.
Anja is the co-founder of The Blood Sugar Method, where she helps women improve their metabolic health and balance their blood sugar through real food recipes, ongoing coaching, and sustainable lifestyle shifts. She also leads Anja Lee & Company, offering interactive virtual cooking classes and team-building events with ingredient kits delivered to your door. A super fun thing to do if you are looking for a virtual event for you and your co-workers!
You can also find Anja on Modern Women’s Nutrition, her weekly Substack where she shares science-backed insights on hormone and metabolic health, plus easy, delicious recipes drawn from her archives of 15+ years of cooking professionally. Her goal is to help women feel confident – not only in the kitchen, but also at home and in their own bodies.
PLUS: In this issue Anja shares one of her most popular tomato tart recipes with a homemade gluten free crust! Read on!
First things first, what’s your food philosophy?
Beautiful, delicious food brings people together.
I’ve been enamored with this concept since I was young. It’s a foundational natural need we all have, and in each moment when we are given with a fresh, colorful, in-season ingredient should be celebrated. I’ve been on a mission starting at 10 years old to create awe-inspiring dishes for family and friends to come together and enjoy. I am deeply fulfilled by the laughter incited around a beautiful table or bite into something delicious. I believe in cooking and eating food that’s nutrient-rich, flexible, and pretty, too.
SM: I ask this question every time because obviously it’s a good backdrop for understanding why the guest makes the rest of the decisions they make in their kitchen, but also to encourage you to crystalize your own food philosophy! Once you have a clear philosophy, the rest comes relatively easily. If you need a refresher, you can read more about mine here.
What are five pantry staples you ALWAYS keep stocked, and why?
Dijon mustard – My secret weapon for dressings, marinades, and adding depth to sauces. Edmond Fallot is my favorite.
Olive oil – A high-quality one for finishing, and a basic one for cooking. I buy local olive oil from small Basque producers here in France, and our neighbors in France, too. In California, I love Kosterina!
Garlic – Anti-inflammatory, full of flavor, great in salad dressings, green sauces, and almost anything I put in a pan or on the stove.
Sea salt flakes (Maldon) – For finishing dishes, sprinkling on salad greens, adding to toasted pumpkin seeds and nuts, a pinch in my water for electrolytes, and zhuzh’ing up just about everything.
JOI or blanched almond butter - Blending this with water and a pinch of salt (sometimes a date too) makes fresh, gorgeous almond milk that lasts a few days in the fridge. It’s been years since we’ve purchased milk at the store, and this way it’s 100% natural without preservatives, and tastes so much better too!
I couldn’t just pick 5 so adding one more:
Dried beans: We aim to only eat meat a few nights per week—it’s less expensive, and helps us vary our protein sources. So, I keep lots of dried beans in the house. When I wake up, I soak them. And when I come home in the afternoon, I get them cooking for a few hours on the stove. With some garlic, salt and bay leaves, they are always incredibly flavorful and light up our meals!
SM: Whoaaa I never thought about making almond milk with almond butter…but that’s genius and sounds like way less mess!
Next up, name five fridge staples and their why.
Lemons – A squeeze in my morning water when I wake up, on my salads, in my sauces, and in almost everything I cook. Acidity is a key ingredient to flavor, and it’s great for the gut microbiome, too!
Greens & fresh herbs – And lots of them! I make sure to have spinach, kale, lettuce, basil, parsley, cilantro, and/or other beautiful greens and herbs in every single meal. It’s a non-negotiable!
Cheese – I live in France, need I explain more? There are over 1,000 different varieties of cheese in France alone, so I have a lot to taste and enjoy! Fresh, creamy protein-rich cheese not only adds salty flavor, but quality raw cheese also provides some healthy fat and probiotics for a happy gut, too! Comté, goat cheese, Basque sheep’s cheese, morbier…you name it. You can probably find it in our fridge.
Eggs – I incorporate eggs into my lunch or dinner almost daily. The choline is fantastic for brain and cellular health, on top of being a quality, easy and inexpensive protein source. A sunny side up egg doubles quite nicely as a sauce on top of roasted veggies, too.
SM: One thing I noticed and loved is that there is NO plastic in her fridge or pantry (unless it’s the original wrapping). Anja uses ceramic bowls, glass jars, paper bags, and sometimes just puts the raw ingredient right on the fridge shelf as you can see here! Anja says “People get too obsessed with putting everything in closed containers in my opinion — if you have half a lemon, just put it in the fridge as-is to use again later for dinner!” I could not agree more!
Now onto the freezer, what are five things always in your freezer, and why?
Just one: Strawberries. In France, freezers are used very little to almost never for food. And I’ve adopted this practice. I love the ritual of walking down the street to the market in the morning, and so does my husband. We eat what’s in season and what’s fresh. The only thing you’ll find in my freezer is frozen strawberries at certain times of year, because in the winter it’s hard for me to find fresh berries here for my morning smoothies.
What’s in your fridge to add color or zhuzh up a meal?
Colorful Sauces made from vegetables!!
Tomatoes blended with garlic, yogurt, olive oil, salt and lemon.
Roasted green peppers with similar ingredients as above.
Any fresh herbs we can find—parsley, cilantro, basil, dill—with nuts or seeds, lemon or our homemade red wine vinegar, sea salt, fresh garlic (always) and olive oil!
We have a blender-sauce with every dinner, and many lunches, too.
Any tips for someone just starting to build a “real food” kitchen?
Get a blender!! It adds color, pizzaz, flavor and an easy opportunity for fiber and minerals in every meal.
What’s your favorite “assembly meal” when you don’t feel like cooking?
A Sheet Pan Power Meal, like this one we made in a cooking class with The Blood Sugar Method.
What’s a go-to meal on rotation right now?
Savory Tartes! We love them so much. We mix a gluten free flour (quinoa, spelt, millet, buckwheat…) with salt, olive oil and an egg. Bake it as a crust for 10 minutes, then add sautéd seasonal vegetables, cheese, and perhaps an egg on top. Yum!!
SM: Anja generously shared this recipe with us!! Make it with the last of the summer tomatoes!
What’s a grocery or food rule you don’t follow anymore—and why?
I don’t fear healthy fats, nor quality salt. I’m constantly walking and moving, and I eat whole rich foods, so I know that these are essential to keeping a healthy metabolism and strong cells. Cheese, avocado, sea salt and whole-fat yogurt are daily foods for me. When I buy chicken, I buy bone in and skin on—for more flavor, collagen and healthy fats.
What’s your favorite way to make a meal more nutrient-dense?
Adding nuts and seeds. They are jam-packed with fiber, protein and healthy fats. And they add tons of flavor! I love to sauté them for a few minutes (without letting them burn) and adding some cinnamon, cayenne, allspice, flaky salt, or even a dash of honey. Perfect to put on top of salads, and almost anything to add a tasty crunch.
One of my favorite examples is my Honey Chili Walnut Salmon recipe – quick, easy and nutrient-packed.
What’s one thing in your kitchen that would surprise people?
I only have 3 knives. Not a massive rack, full of all different shapes and sizes. And honestly, I only need one! A quality chef’s knife is my BFF in the kitchen.
—
Thank you so much, Anja 👏🏻 🙏🏻 I always find it so refreshing to hear when professional chefs keep it super simple and attainable at home. Also the idea of making almond milk from almond butter vs. almonds kind of blew my mind…sounds like much less clean up!
Please let us know what you thought of this in the comments below or if you’ve got questions.
And that’s a wrap!! Big hugs and thanks to Sonja for putting this together, and to YOU for reading it!!
See you next week!
💜 Anja
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Love this Sonja and Anja!🧡