I can remember the first time I fell in love with food, I was 9 years old my mum was in the kitchen and she was making meatballs with a tomato sauce. The smell of the tomato sauce reducing and the sautéing of the garlic and onion, was mouth watering but best of all mum asked if I would like to help make the meatballs. I put my hand in the bowl of mince and it was like playing with play dough, it was so fun and I knew I was hooked. For me food is all about making me happy, healthy, it’s about exploring my senses, while igniting my digestion to get the most out of the food I eat. I also believe I have a great respect for food, eating and the fantastic solicitation that comes with it.
By Zoe Bingley-Pullin
Food and I have always been best friends, some times a little too much of a friend, so learning how to balance my eating was something I have valued and it has become the main message I wanted to teach people.
I was hopeless at school and had terrible dyslexia so I was very disillusioned as to what I was going to be when I “grew up”, but food and I have always had a creative relationship, it felt natural and I was empowered when I was cooking.
Studying at the Cordon Bleu in London was my first involvement with my passion but after gaining 10kg and living off crème caramels or what ever leftover high indulgent food I was cooking, I realised that something was not working.
Moving to the South of France and working in a villa where people would come from mainly America to have a French culinary experience, was where my true understanding of food evolved. Essentially my roll was the “food slave”, I would be up every morning at 5am and would go to the bakery and try to understand what the baker was saying, thank god for body language. I would then go to the produce markets where the colours, smells and noises were mesmerizing. I think eating the onion tart and chevre cheese, as my snacks didn’t help my waistline.
We would then spend the rest of the day cooking and preparing meals such as Quail wrapped in fig leaf, Cherry Clafoutis or a local drink called Vin d’Orange, it was truly inspiring.
Coming home I knew that I didn’t want to work in a commercial kitchen but I loved working for different catering companies. Studying nutrition was the natural progression as there was such a lack of truthful nutrition information, that was not all about weight loss and was more about commonsense and healthy eating.
Everyday I feel extremely honored to do what I do and I am sure my teachers at school are amazed that I have made it work so well. I want to say a big thank you to all my clients over the years as they are the people that keep you current and grounded.
Rescu. Loves: Zoe’s new cookbook Eat Taste Nourish, full of healthy living advice and delicious recipes. Try out the delectable Warm Chicken Salad with Quinoa recipe below!
Warm Chicken Salad with Quinoa
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Chicken Ingredients:
2x200g chicken breast, cup into thick strips
1 tsp. of dried marjoram
Salt and pepper to season
1 tbsp. of olive oil
Salad ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
¼ cup Spanish onion, chopped
½ a cup of red capsicum, diced
½ a cup of green capsicum, diced
½ cup fresh basil, julienne
1 cup of fresh tomato
1 tsp of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of fresh chili
Method:
In a bowl mix all the chicken ingredients together and place in a hot saucepan and cook until slightly golden brown.
Cook the quinoa in a saucepan with two cups of water. Stir constantly over medium heat about 5 minutes till it just becomes aromatic.
Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Drain the quinoa if necessary and then transfer the quinoa to a large bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients including the chicken and thoroughly combine.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Utensils:
Measuring spoons
2xmixing bowls
Measuring cups
Saucepan
By Zoe Bingley-Pullin, Nutrition Expert www.nutritionaledge.com.au
Twitter: @ZoeBP
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