Not too many recipes get the excellent rating in my cookbooks. This is one of them. Can be made entirely dairy free, or not, depending on your tastes. Adapted from “The Schwarzbein Principle Cookbook”, by Diana Schwarzbein, Nancy Deville, and Evelyn Jacob.

3 Tbsp butter, ghee, or oil
1 large chopped onion
1 minced garlic clove
1 diced red bell pepper
3 red potatoes, diced into 1/2” cubes
4 cups fish stock, chicken stock or vegetable stock
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 pound salmon fillet, skinned, boned, & cut into 1” pieces
1 cup coconut milk or all-dairy heavy cream
Basil pesto to taste (optional) - recipe below
Salt to taste

Sautee onion, garlic, and bell pepper in butter, ghee or oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes, stock, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Puree ½ to 2/3 in a food processor or blender and add back to the pot.

Add salmon pieces and coconut milk (or cream, depending on what you can eat). Simmer over low heat until salmon flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook the salmon! Using a fork, swirl in pesto while heating gently. Taste and adjust seasonings.


Basil Pesto Recipe

This recipe can be made with whatever your diet allows you to eat. Traditional pesto is:

2 cups packed fresh basil
1-2 cloves of garlic, depending on how much raw garlic you like
¼ cup romano cheese
¼ pine nuts (or walnuts if you don’t have pine nuts on hand)
Olive oil, ¼ to ½ cup
Salt & black pepper to taste

If you can’t have dairy, leave out the cheese. If casein is ok, but not dairy, substitute with rice parmesan cheese. If nuts aren’t ok, leave out. Arugula can also be substituted for basil. Amounts are approximate. Adjust to your tastes.

A food processor is best, but you can also make pesto in a blender. In a food processor, fill it with the fresh basil. Grind the basil. Add minced garlic, cheese, pine nuts, and salt.