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Hooked On People Interview: Nicolette Richer of The Green Moustache + Grain & Bean Summer Salad

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Nicolette Richer is an awe-inspiring woman who wears many hats in the health world. She worked for 10 years as an environmental educator and health consultant, which lead her to become well aware of how connected our health is to the environment around us. She now is a guru at preventing and healing chronic disease and cancer through a plant-based lifestyle and the Gerson Therapy. ‘Richer Health’ is all about preventing pollution within ourselves. Not only does Nicolette do talks, online coaching, workshops, and retreats, but she also started the much-loved Green Moustache! The Green Mo is a live food and juice café well-known for it’s delicious eats and airy atmosphere. I always walk out of there feeling more vibrant than when I stepped in.

If people want to learn and experience, hands on, how to Eat to Beat Cancer and Chronic Disease, they can now sign up for her 5-Week Eat to Beat online course.

**If you enter the code ‘JulesFuel’ you’ll get 20% off.** (Thanks  Nicolette!)

Let’s learn all about Nicolette…

Hooked on Plants: What are your top 3 tips for plant-based newbies? 

Nicolette Richer:

1) Eat clean real food. Living a healthy, nutrient-dense, plant-based lifestyle means you love eating out of the produce and grain section of a grocery store, or you source directly from your local farmers market or farm. Ditch the idea that packaged food and plant-based healthy living mean the same thing, because it doesn’t. Organic vegan Oreo-cookies, most fake-meat products, or even simply cheap pasta and canned tomato sauce may technically be plant-based, but it’s really just fortified food chalked full of sodium, dyes, preservatives and other unwanted chemicals. Stick to clean real food (like Jules Fuel 😉 to nourish yourself daily.

2) Eat in abundance! The beauty about diving into a plant-based lifestyle – or as Dr. Joel Fuhrman says, a ‘plant-rich’ lifestyle – is that if you are eating a variety of nutrient-rich, whole-plant-based foods, prepared in healthful ways, such as baked, blended, juiced, slow-cooked, slightly steamed and raw, then counting calories becomes an out-dated and useless practice of the past.

3) Keep It Simple. It’s fun to pull out the recipe books and make complicated decadent dishes and sauces that require exotic ingredients. But in reality – all of those ingredients can be one-time-use expensive, and who has time for that on a day to day basis? For a plant-based dessert, eat a mango, a few dates, and a bowl full of chilled grapes – mmmm. Love popsicles? Blend the mango with the grapes and a bit of water and freeze it. Want a delicious plant-based soup? Cook onions, garlic, leeks and squash. Blend. Enjoy… No oil, no veggie stock, no spices. After a week of keeping your plate simple, your taste buds will grow to appreciate the complex flavours that already exist in the nutrient-dense produce.

HOP: Why did you get into a plant-based lifestyle?

NR: Thanks to my mom and our African and East Indian background, I grew up loving the crunchiness and freshness of salads, warm baked potatoes and okra, and curried veggies and whole grain rice. We always had a garden and I detested eating meat. But I wasn’t always plant-based. In my teens, when I started earning my own money to buy food at school, I wavered over to a Skor Bar, Pepsi, Big Mac, and Poutine diet. Intense PMS and acne quickly followed and noticing the effects of my diet on my health, I ventured back to my plant-based roots. However, what really sealed the plant-based deal for me was witnessing my friend heal himself of stage IV cancer using a nutrient-dense plant-rich diet therapy. That experience kicked off my thirst for knowledge about the relationship between food and disease and a result, my businesses are built around educating others about how to Eat Real to Heal their chronic health conditions.

HOP: As a Gerson home trainer, you must have an abundance of success stories. Can you give a quick overview of what the Gerson Therapy fundamentals are?

NR: My clients have incredible healing stories based on them taking the steps to swap out the SAD (Standard American Diet) for a whole-foods plant-rich lifestyle. Ultimately the Gerson Therapy is all about restoring nutritional deficiencies, caused by the SAD way of life, which then prompts the body to kick start its self-healing regeneration systems, dump toxic build-up, and ultimately reverse chronic disease including cancer. The Gerson Therapy is named after the German medical doctor, Max Gerson who spent his life researching how organic, whole plant-based foods actually work to heal the body and he found that the fastest way to nutrify and detoxify the human body was through the consumption of:

  1. cold-pressed juices (think IV therapy)
  2. cooked and raw breakfast lunch, dinner and even desserts
  3. high dose nutrients in the form of key primary supplements to support organ functions
  4. a liver detoxification protocol to support the expulsion of metabolic waste and other toxins
  5. rest and minimal exercise are also important aspects of the therapy.

HOP: Your kids must be some of the healthiest around! What is your favourite trick for feeding kids more fruit and veggies? 

NR: Haha! I love this question and I often get asked it by parents. Yes, teachers and parents often state that they are amazed that my kids eat everything and that they love fruits and most veggies – my youngest has yet to find a love for mushrooms though.

I have 3 tools to help parents:

  1.  The trick is to not trick your kids into eating more fruits and veggies – if you get your kids involved in shopping, washing, chopping, and making real food plant-based meals, beverages and desserts, their brains will be turned on to the textures, flavours, aromas, and sensations received from living this lifestyle and they’ll crave it, just like most adults would
  2. The key is that you can’t have competing foods in the house. If there’s a bag of salt and vinegar chips in my house, I’ll always choose those over the healthier more satisfying options. So imagine, what it’s like for a child to be presented with a scrumptious home-made plant-based dish when there are cheese strings, goldfish crackers, and mac & cheese in the cupboards
  3. Don’t pressure, bribe or bully your kids into eating their veggies and fruits. Most kids won’t starve themselves. Simply prepare your meals or snacks and present them on the table as you would normally do and mirror the joy and love of eating healthy food

Do these things day in and day out, and if your child eats even a little of what’s on the table – great – don’t make a big deal about it, just do it again the next day. If they eat a lot – again, wonderful…but you really don’t have to celebrate it though you can do a little jig of joy and relief internally. If your child claims they are still hungry after dinner, present them with other just-as-healthy options so it’s a win, win all around. And give your child time to adjust their brain, habits, and taste-buds to the new healthy textures, colours and aromas on your table of goodness.

HOP: Great tips. How did you come up with the name Green Moustache (it’s the best)?

NR: I love the name too! We were sitting around our kitchen table with friends and I had made a yummy blueberry and greens smoothie for my daughter – she was 2 years old at the time – and the berries made the smoothie congeal in the glass so when she went to tip the glass up to drink from it, the entire smoothie slid out of her glass and onto her face giving her a beautiful big Green Moustache, and not to mention a very angry but cute pout.

HOP: Too cute! The Green Moustache is spreading like wild fire! Whistler, Squamish, Vancouver and Revelstoke are all lucky enough to have one, and the Dragon’s gave you some great exposure too! What is the next exciting project you’re working on?

NR: Our two major projects are 1) supporting our franchisees in Squamish, two in North Vancouver and Revelstoke with more being announced soon … and then 2) working with the Provincial Health Authorities to get the Green Moustache into BC Hospitals in 2018! This is our dream at the Green Mo to get our food and beverages into areas where people need it most.

HOP: You do 4 retreats per year with Yoga, Cooking classes and Nutrition talks! So awesome. When is the next one coming up?

NR: We’ll be hosting a 3-day retreat at the end of August in Whistler to launch our train-the-trainer program. Students who want to dive deeper into the art and science of using food as medicine to reverse disease so they can teach other people how to Eat Real to Heal can further their studies with us for 3 months after the retreat is over. Dates and location will be announced soon on FB and on our websites.

HOP: Can you share your favourite recipe with us that means SUMMER to you? 

NR: I love recipe books but rarely follow a recipe…I’m a sort of a free-style chef, so to speak…so I’ll take you through how to make my favourite go-to summer dish, inspired by Oh She Glows, Back On Track Wheat Berry and Bean Salad. You can adjust the quantities and ingredients based on the flavours you are craving when you make it, or by what is available in your fridge.

Nicolette’s Go-To Grain & Bean Summer Salad

Serves: 7 cups approximately

Ingredients: 

Salad Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry wheat berries cooked and drained (substitute: brown rice, quinoa, barley, etc.)
  • 1 cups/500 ml cooked navy beans (substitute black beans, kidney beans, white beans, chick peas, etc.)
  • 1 mango, diced
  • 1 cucumber or zucchini, diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 1 cup fresh parsley or 1 cup cilantro, diced
  • 3 green onions, diced
  • black pepper to taste
  • If you desire a salty flavour, add 2 stalks celery, diced

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 0-3 tbsp flax oil or extra virgin olive oil (oil is optional)
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard, hot mustard, or ground mustard seeds
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

  1. In separate bowls, soak the grains and beans overnight in cold water.
  2. The next day, drain and cook grains and beans separately until tender. Drain water and cool.
  3. In a large bowl, add diced vegetables and mango.
  4. In a small bowl or mason jar, whisk or shake the dressing ingredients together.
  5. When the grains and beans are cooled, add to large bowl of veggies and mango.
  6. Add dressing to taste.

Chickpea No-Tuna Wrap with Avocado | Vegan Lunch Box

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Looks like tuna, tastes like tuna, must be tuna?

But nooooo.

There were no fish harmed in the making of this lunch.

The mighty chickpea mashed up with whole food ingredients like seaweed, capers, celery and avocado (instead of the typical mayo), give this no-tuna salad an A+ in the nutrition department.

One of the trickiest questions to wrap my head around going plant-based was ‘what do I fill the lunch box with’?

Sandwiches used to be centred around the meat, and always had to have cheese.

What kind of sanny do you want today? Tuna? Turkey? Ham? … These were the normal go-to’s.

So, turning plant-based brought on a lunch box challenge. How do we keep it quick, simple, tasty, satiating and, most importantly, above and beyond just carrots and lettuce (because that’s all vegans munch on, right)?

Now, I realize how easy and delicious plant-based lunches can be.

These days the sandwich’s best friends are:

Tempeh

Chickpeas

Hummus

Guacamole

Shredded veggies

Seared Tofu

Cauliflower wings

Rice & beans

Jackfruit…

And today, the spot light is on the versatile little chickpea turned ‘tuna salad’.

I can whip this up on the morning of in just 10 minutes, then have enough for 3 lunches.

Benefits:

~ Chickpeas are packed with easily digestible plant-protein and insoluble fiber, which is great for digestive health and controlling your blood sugar levels.

~ Seaweed of any kind is more nutrient-dense than any land vegetable! It packs tons of micronutrients like folate, calcium,, zinc, iron, selenium, magnesium and iodine.

~ Avocado in replacement of mayo (vegan mayo or not), gives you the benefits of using a whole food. Minimizing oils from processed ingredients like mayo, and replacing them with a natural source of fat from a plant food will allow you to receive the whole package of goodness. Vitamins, minerals, water content, and fibre all come with the avocado.

Why reduce seafood consumption?

  • if we don’t drastically reduce our demand for fish, we could be seeing fishless oceans by 2048 
  • 80% of all fish stocks are in a state of collapse
  • Mercury, toxins and heavy metals are stored in the fish flesh that can lead to memory loss, tremors, fatigue, birth defects…
  • Farmed fish are polluting the ocean with waste, pesticides and antibiotics
  • Wild fish are getting harder to come by each day
  • Bycatch is the term for the millions of tons of unintentional marine life each year that is caught and discarded back to the sea, dead or wounded. This represents 40% of global marine catches, that are just thrown back into the ocean, dead or wounded.
  • A fisherman will catch 20 pounds of by catch for every 1 pound of targeted fish (dolphins, whales, porpoises, sea turtles, sharks, seals, stingrays, other fish)
  • Invasive fishing methods (trawl nets and explosives) destroy the ocean floor and coral

On the bright side?

  • You could save 225 fish per year by ditching seafood, or make a difference by reducing your consumption
  • By removing fish from your diet (including supplements) you can help marine animal populations make a come-back, plus minimize unhealthy toxins to yourself
  • Plant-based food is delicious and mega nutritious

 

Chickpea No-Tuna Wrap

with Avocado

Time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: 2-3 lunches worth

Ingredients:

  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1-2 celery stalks, minced
  • 1 green onion, minced
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp tamari
  • 1/3 cup mixed seaweed flakes or dulse flakes (or 1 nori sheet made into flakes either minced or ground with a coffee/spice grinder)
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • juice of 1/2 lemon (or one full small one)
  • 1-2 pinches cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1/2 avocado

Directions:

  1. Strain, then in a big bowl, mash the chickpeas with a potato masher, fork, or pulse them in a food processor
  2. Mash in the avocado
  3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients evenly
  4. Serve it up in a wrap, a romaine boat, collard green wrap, in a sandwich, on a salad, or on an open-face toast with melted vegan cheese!

Spring Clean Pesto Zoodles

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It’s Spring time.

The birds are chirpin’, the days are longer, the cleanses are happening and the bikinis are coming out of the closet.

If you’re looking for a light, yet satisfying dinner, you have come to the right place. Load up on these veggies and give yourself a pat on the back.

This dish is a mega nutrient boost all wrapped up in a healthy, satisfying, creamy dressing.

Eat as much as you can of these goods, because every ingredient in here is is packed with benefits for your body.

The spiralized zucchini noodles are super low calorie, super high nutrient, with tons of fibre and water.

These ratios, my friends, are the perfect ratios for getting that bod bikini ready.

Count nutrients, not calories……. Eat whole foods, not processed.

And you’ll be energized and laughin!

I kept it simple for you; no need to turn the stove on.

All of the veggies can be roasted together without oil while you make the sauce and spiralize your noodles. That’s it that’s all.

This is a great recipe to double, so you’ll have leftovers for your lunches, dinners, made into wraps, fed to your neighbour, you name it.

Benefits:

~ Zucchini is great for weight loss. It’s high fibre and high water content, along with the dose of nutrients and vitamins help you feel full and satisfied, despite the low calorie count. It’s also disease fighting with it’s Vitamin C and beta-carotene content.

~ Basil is packed with disease-fighting antioxidants. It also contains essential oils that help lower inflammation (the cause of most diseases). The phytochemicals are cancer-fighting. Plus, basil acts as an adaptogen, which means it combats stress and helps your body come back to balance (homeostasis).

~ Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable that has sulfur-containing elements. These are known for their cancer fighting properties! It also aids in weight loss, balances blood pressure, boosts brain power, and is great for your hair and bones.

Spring Clean Pesto Zoodles

Serves: 2 + left over cashew pesto

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

Roasted Veggies:

  • 2 heads of broccoli
  • 1 large yam
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 5 white mushrooms
  • 2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1-2 tbsp garlic powder

Cashew Pesto:

  • 1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours in 2 cups water, then strained and rinsed
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp chives, minced
  • 2 tbsp red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 cup basil (loosely packed)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • pinch of salt

Base:

  • 1 large zucchini (you could also use yam, butternut squash, daikon, kelp noodles, or your favourite pasta noodles!)

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 390F
  2. Roast veggies: spread yams on one sheet, and broccoli, onions and mushrooms on another. Sprinkle on some balsamic vinegar and garlic powder. Give it a mix, and put it in the oven.
  3. For yams: roast 30 minutes, flipping half-way
  4. For others: roast 20 minutes, flipping half-way
  5. Make cashew pesto: add all ingredients to blender, blend until smooth
  6. Spiralize your zucchini (favourite part)
  7. Assemble your dish and enjoy!

Cauliflower Mash & Marinated Portobello Steaks

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When you find a vibrant, purple mega cauliflower, you take it home.

Thanks to Spud for carrying all of the local, organic goodness.

With this beauty, I immediately thought… purple cauliflower mash… yes.

As you can see, the mash is more on the grey side, and not so purple after all. But, it still tastes delicious and it’s a different option from your regular mashed taters.

The portobello mushroom marinade is quick, easy, and super flavourful.

This is a great dish to serve if you’re having guests and you want to make it a little fancy! Ya know?

Paired with a big green salad, you’re good to go!

Benefits:

~ Cauliflower of the purple variety has more of the antioxidant anthocyanin. This, along with being a sulfur-containing cruciferous veg, packed with vitamin C and K, gives you the anti-cancer punch that you need!

~ Portobello mushrooms are rich in minerals like potassium, phosphorus and selenium. Plus, they’re pretty much vegan steak when you marinate them like this!

Cauliflower Mash & Marinated Portobello

Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Mash:

  • 1 large head of cauliflower (any colour!)
  • 1/2 c unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • dash of pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1-2 tbsp chives minced

Portobello Mushrooms:

  • 2 portobello mushrooms, de-stemmed and scrubbed
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 2 maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 2 cloves garlic

Garnish:

  • 2 green onions, sliced thinly and diagonally
  • 5 pecans, chopped

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F
  2. Make portobello marinade: whisk together mustard, maple syrup, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, water and garlic
  3. Pour marinade over each mushroom (cap-side down). Let sit 10 minutes
  4. Chop cauliflower into even pieces
  5. Steam cauliflower until fork tender (10-15 minutes): fill pot with 1 inch of water, bring to a boil, place cauliflower in a steamer basket and cover. Once tender, pat cauliflower down with a clean towel. Get as much moisture off as possible.
  6. Bake mushrooms in a dish that allows the mushrooms to be covered in the marinade. Bake 15-20 minutes, flipping half way
  7. While mushrooms are baking, make the cauliflower mash: In a food processor, blend until smooth the coconut milk, thyme, chives, pepper garlic, and nutritional yeast to blender with 1/4 of the steamed cauliflower. Then add in the rest of the cauliflower and blend until nearly smooth
  8. Serve by placing the mushroom cap side down on a plate, then fill it up with cauliflower mash, and top it with green onions and pecans. Use the extra marinade as ‘gravy’ over top of the mash!

Vegan Turmeric Cheese Log

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This was a hit as an appy at the last dinner party!

Especially with Eve’s Crackers on the side.

The vegans were all over it, and the surprised words ‘it tastes like cheese’ were heard over and over again from the non-vegans.

Success!

The beauty Holly (who has done some amazing work with Peta over the years) loved it, plus, I was finally able to put the neglected cheese knife to great use.

This version of nut cheese making is the quickest and easiest you will find.

There are longer versions of how to make nut cheeses, some as long as one week of fermenting!

Fermenting the nuts for the cheese will give it more of a tangy, aged cheese taste, but when you’ve got a day to figure out what to bring to impress your pals, this is a great go-to recipe to curb those cheese cravings.

I’d still start it the day before you will be serving it up, just so you get all the soaking time possible.

Just soak and strain the cashews, blend the ingredients, strain in a cheese cloth, let it chill in the fridge & roll shape it up.

The turmeric in this mixture tricks you into believing you’re eating the orange cheddar you used to indulge in.

Get creative with the herbs that make the outer layer. What fresh herbs are hiding in that fridge of yours? Use them!


This is one of the many recipes up on Instagram for the 2nd #VancityVirtualPotluck organized by Piquant Marketing!

Check out my Instagram (@hookedonplants) to see the dishes before and after this yummy cheese (over 80 total)!

Benefits:

–Cashews are packed with minerals and antioxidants. Because of the magnesium and calcium, your nerves and bones will thank you. The copper in these babies will ward of colon cancer and help keep your hair vibrant!

–Turmeric is nature’s anti-inflammatory. All disease starts with inflammation within the body, so warding off inflammation is the key to longevity and health! Eating turmeric with a tiny bit of pepper makes curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) WAY more easily absorbable for your body,

–Nutritional yeast (NOOCH) is a vegan’s best friend when it comes to anything cheezy. Plus it’s packed with B12, all vegans and non-vegans need more of this! B12 is found in microbes in the soil (which is eaten by animals, then humans eat the animals), but the soil is becoming depleted of nutrients and vitamins, so the best way to ensure you’re receiving all the B12 you need is to eat fortified B12 foods (like some plant-based milks), eat nutritional yeast every day, or be safe and take a B12 supplement. But, ‘Nooch’ is the most delicious way to get your B12.

Vegan Turmeric Cheese Log

Serves: 6-8

Time: Actually ‘doing stuff’ time: 10 minutes. Soak and chill time: 7-24 hrs

Ingredients:

Cheeze:

  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight, then strained and rinsed (OR if you’re in a hurry, pour boiling water over your raw cashews and let soak for 1.5 hours)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • zest of half lemon (zest before cutting and sweezing the lemon)
  • juice of 1 lemon

Outer herbs:

  • 2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives, minced

Directions:

  1. Blend all ‘cheeze’ ingredients together until smooth and creamy in your food processor (scrape down sides)
  2. Place mixture into two layers of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag and squeeze into desired shape (you can re-shape after too). Tighten by twisting the mesh cloth.
  3. Leave your ‘cheeze’ in the fridge over a colander (some liquid may drip out) for at least 6 hours (the longer the better!)
  4. Take it out of the cheese cloth and roll it into a log, then coat it with thyme and chives (a bit messy but helps the log keep it’s shape!)
  5. Serve with your favourite crackers, chips, or veggies! I’ve used my friend Eve’s Crackers here!