Hello! I'M CHEF STACEY ELLIS.
Herb'n Vegan's Chef Stacey Ellis
Undeniable evidence that pollution is making our food supplies dangerously toxic; global consumption of meat, fish and dairy that 's simply unsustainable; epidemic diseases we don't even see as unusual anymore. Groan! Not fun to think about, I know. I'd rather think about fluffy bunnies. Alive-and-well fluffy bunnies! We'll not discuss eating fluffy bunnies here. What we will talk about is a quest for better health, treading more lightly on our planet and more time and energy through my approach to delicious, wholesome, vegan cuisine without sacrificing the emotional experience of food. That's fun!
Some days being a vegan chef feels like the most important job on Earth. I feel like a super hero — A force against bad-for-you food! A champion of sustainably farmed produce! A defender of digestive systems everywhere! Except I wear an apron, not a cape. If you share these concerns, you're in the right place.
In Mark Bittman's best-selling cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, he points out the world is changing, and reluctantly or not, we'll soon be pushed to adopt more plants into our diets. Happily, I'm not among the reluctant. Vegan cooking is a thrill. I tie my hair up, put on my favorite apron, get in the kitchen and pour my heart into every meal. Vegan cooking is fascinating. Challenging. There's magic involved somewhere in turning something like tofu into a decadent cheesecake or quiche. I'm simply in love with it.
I was an omnivore once and spent all available hours in the kitchen chasing a hunch that through food I could cure my body of its maladies. I experimented with diets of the day: South Beach, Zone, cleanses, fasts. My vegan transformation began years ago in Santa Monica when I discovered Real Food Daily, a vegan restaurant by Ann Gentry, whom I love for her Southern-inspired comfort-food and commitment to seasonality. A friend bought me the cookbook and I was never the same. The exciting flavors and ingredients, mixed with new and old sensibilities about the nurturing aspects of food changed my life and body forever.
The deal was sealed for me years later when a dear friend was diagnosed with cancer. In my quest to help him survive, I read a lot about food's relationship to disease, how plant-based foods had healing superpowers and that we should all be eating as many of them as we can. My friend is gone now, but I think of him every day and am grateful that our time together unearthed my passion for helping people eat a more healthful and restorative diet.
Because you're here, chances are you're thinking about some of these issues, too. No matter what your reason for wanting to explore plant-based foods, I can help. Whether new to it, somewhere on the path or a veteran, plant-based foods take copious amounts of planning for good nutrition (plus time for all that chopping!) I take the burden of it all off your shoulders, and put more plants on your plate — so you can be a superhero, too.
I have another hunch. From where we stand today, if everyone on Earth reduced consumption of foods derived from animals by 50 percent, it would cause a global paradigm shift that would improve the health of our planet and all its inhabitants. This possibility fuels me to be the best vegan chef and caterer I can be, so that through wholesome, comforting and memorable food, I can inspire others... one meal at a time.
If you're ready to build your team for better health, I'm in your corner. That makes you well-equipped to conquer the rest.
Bon Vegan!
Chef Stacey
Some days being a vegan chef feels like the most important job on Earth. I feel like a super hero — A force against bad-for-you food! A champion of sustainably farmed produce! A defender of digestive systems everywhere! Except I wear an apron, not a cape. If you share these concerns, you're in the right place.
In Mark Bittman's best-selling cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, he points out the world is changing, and reluctantly or not, we'll soon be pushed to adopt more plants into our diets. Happily, I'm not among the reluctant. Vegan cooking is a thrill. I tie my hair up, put on my favorite apron, get in the kitchen and pour my heart into every meal. Vegan cooking is fascinating. Challenging. There's magic involved somewhere in turning something like tofu into a decadent cheesecake or quiche. I'm simply in love with it.
I was an omnivore once and spent all available hours in the kitchen chasing a hunch that through food I could cure my body of its maladies. I experimented with diets of the day: South Beach, Zone, cleanses, fasts. My vegan transformation began years ago in Santa Monica when I discovered Real Food Daily, a vegan restaurant by Ann Gentry, whom I love for her Southern-inspired comfort-food and commitment to seasonality. A friend bought me the cookbook and I was never the same. The exciting flavors and ingredients, mixed with new and old sensibilities about the nurturing aspects of food changed my life and body forever.
The deal was sealed for me years later when a dear friend was diagnosed with cancer. In my quest to help him survive, I read a lot about food's relationship to disease, how plant-based foods had healing superpowers and that we should all be eating as many of them as we can. My friend is gone now, but I think of him every day and am grateful that our time together unearthed my passion for helping people eat a more healthful and restorative diet.
Because you're here, chances are you're thinking about some of these issues, too. No matter what your reason for wanting to explore plant-based foods, I can help. Whether new to it, somewhere on the path or a veteran, plant-based foods take copious amounts of planning for good nutrition (plus time for all that chopping!) I take the burden of it all off your shoulders, and put more plants on your plate — so you can be a superhero, too.
I have another hunch. From where we stand today, if everyone on Earth reduced consumption of foods derived from animals by 50 percent, it would cause a global paradigm shift that would improve the health of our planet and all its inhabitants. This possibility fuels me to be the best vegan chef and caterer I can be, so that through wholesome, comforting and memorable food, I can inspire others... one meal at a time.
If you're ready to build your team for better health, I'm in your corner. That makes you well-equipped to conquer the rest.
Bon Vegan!
Chef Stacey