Fully Nourished and Full of Flavour

Dieting has become a thing of the past – avoiding carbs, and counting calories tends to leave dieters miserable, hungry, and under nourished.

A healthy lifestyle should be the goal – a diet of greens, lean protein, and healthy grains – one that leaves you fully nourished.

What better way to jump start your healthy lifestyle than to learn from Toronto-based nutritionist Marni Wasserman and her nutritious empire – Fully Nourished.

Wasserman creates cooking classes that teach clients about healthy eating, whole food ingredients, and nutritious (but no less delicious) meal options.

Wasserman graduated from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Toronto, with a certificate as a Certified Nutritional Practitioner. Next, her studies brought her to New York’s Natural Gourmet Culinary Institution, where Wasserman became a certified chef. Not to mention, she gained inspiration and learned new techniques from the glamorous New York food industry.

Wasserman is whole-heartedly passionate about healthy eating, and has personally experienced the benefits of eating well. This passion comes through in her food, and in her teachings.

“The goal is to educate people on how to use wholesome whole food ingredients, and how to put them into recipes that can be used everyday so that people aren’t intimidated,” says Wasserman.

But, how do you take the first step to change your eating habits?

“Starting from the basics,” says Wasserman. “I find out what’s important to (my clients) in terms of what they eat, then explain the (health) benefits of a predominately plant-based diet. I try to give them as many resources as possible.”

By “a predominately plant based diet” Wasserman is referring to a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats like avocado. Not only are these foods healthy, but they are also much less expensive than a diet that relies on animal proteins. “People are afraid to spend money on good quality meat because it’s expensive, but I try to avoid making [meat and fish] the focus of every single meal,” explains Wasserman. “I move them away from animal-based foods and more towards plants.”

There’s one ingredient that Wasserman stresses is essential to healthy living: “Green vegetables. The leafy stuff like kale, bok choy, and swiss chard - the stuff that people walk away from because they don’t know how to cook it.” There are in fact alternatives to the infamously bland spinach and broccoli, you just have to know how to prepare them to optimize their unique flavour. “I wouldn’t eat the food I eat if it didn’t taste so good,” says Wasserman.

Wasserman’s creativity in the kitchen goes far. Her “plant-based diet” includes dishes such as spaghetti and meatballs, cleverly concocted with pureed nuts and spices rolled into balls, and tangled in seaweed noodles that brilliantly take on any flavour you add to them. For dessert, vegan chocolate cake with mint cacao coconut ice cream.

“People fear that healthy food doesn’t taste good, and it does. I don’t ever feel like I need to cheat or eat something with sugar or dairy in it because I’m deprived.” Her clients couldn’t agree more. “I see the response in my classes and people who take on my recipes and go home and say ‘oh my family loved that!’ ”

Jump start your healthy lifestyle with foods that taste good and make you feel good. Forego your favourites, along with their fat and unhealthy ingredients, for alternatives that will leave you just as satisfied and, most importantly, fully nourished.

For delicious recipes, health tips, and more info, visit: www.marniwasserman.com

Contact Marni Wasserman at 416.520.0773 or Marni@marniwasserman.com