Hello and welcome to The Holistic Chef Academy recipe blog.
Here I share my favourite healthy nourishing recipes for you all to enjoy at home. My recipes are affordable and accessible for you and your family to enjoy everyday and reap the many health benefits.
Whether you are just trying to eat a little healthier or an athlete training for a competition.. these recipes are for you.
Healthy Recipes
All my recipes are 100% wholefood, plant-based and vegan:
- Some raw
- Some cooked
- Mostly gluten-free
- Alkalising
- Nourishing
- Varied
- Original
- Easy to make
- Affordable
- Delicious
- Nutritious
Save your favourite recipes and start to build your own menus and meal plans with my recipe collection feature.
On each recipe card you will see an 'Add To Collections' button, simple click on this button and start building your own recipe collections.
Discover more healthy recipes
Real Food Library
Discover and learn all about plant-based foods and the core ingredients that feature throughout my recipes.
I introduce the history of these ingredients, their availability, seasonality, where to source, nutritional content, health benefits and much more.
Discover more plant-based ingredients
My Culinary Adventure
My life revolves around food and all that this encompasses; nature, travel, people, history, education, farming, growing, sustainability, cooking, health and community...
'Food is Life' and my life's work is dedicated to making a positive impact in peoples lives through inspiring healthy foods.
I started my culinary adventure at the age of 15, washing pots and pans in a busy hotel in Galway, West Ireland. 10 years later I was cooking on the meat section at world number 1 restaurant; The French Laundry, Napa Valley, California.. Another 10 years later and here I am, The Holistic Chef cooking plants in the jungles of Phuket, Thailand.
My 20+ year worldwide culinary journey has taken me on some wild and inspiring adventures.
My Animals to Plants Transition
The choices we make about what we eat, where it comes from and how it is prepared, have a direct and powerful impact on the health of individuals, communities and the environment.
I never imagined that I would ever be a non-animal eater! The idea of veganism seemed totally limiting to me as a classically trained chef. It all happened by chance and marked a major turning point in my career and personal life.
The seed was planted while I was on a 3 month culinary adventure of Denmark and Thailand.
In 2014, at the age of 31, I hit a wall in my career. After working my way up from a 15 year old pot washer to Executive Chef, the relentless pursuit of Michelin Star excellence and perfection was taking its toll on me. No matter how good the food I was cooking and serving, I felt it was never good enough.
The competitive quest for awards, accolades and recognition I was on had run its course.
My personal life and health was suffering. The 80-100 hours per week over 10 years in high-paced intense kitchen environments had caught up on me. I'd given all I got. As fun and action packed as it was, the time came to focus on my own health and creative development.
So, In the Autumn of 2014 I took a sabbatical and did an internship with Rasmus Koefoed at Geranium restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was the first time I was introduced to bio-dynamic farming, foraging and the fascinating world of wild fermentation.
I was inspired with the style of Rasmus's cuisine and intrigued by his vegetarian lifestyle. Rasmus has the utmost respect for vegetables, fruits, roots, barks, saps, herbs, seeds, nuts, weeds and flowers. Even the humble onion and seaweeds were elevated to something remarkable, worthy of 3 Michelin stars.
My time in the kitchens of Geranuim with Rasmus and his team was remarkable, it set me on a whole new path of culinary creativity.
West to East culinary adventure
Next stop was Northern Thailand for a 6 week cultural culinary tour. This is when I began to study nutrition in more depth. I spent my time Muay Thai training, studying on-line nutrition, exploring Thai culture, making kombucha and beginning to practice yoga and meditation.
I decided to stop eating meat while in Thailand, to expand my vegan and vegetarian repertoire. Throughout this time I started to feel fitter, healthier, stronger and happier than ever. Creatively, I felt a new lease of life. I started to look at food with a whole new perspective. Nutrition started to come to the forefront.
When I returned home, I choose to give up cooking for accolades and start cooking for health... this was a challenging but liberating turning point in my career. The Holistic Chef was born.
After 15 years cooking, I felt like I was starting all over again, with a whole new world of plants and fungi to explore...
My Holistic chef approach to food and cooking
I believe food is life. Food is the foundation of happinness. Good healthy food has the power to nourish our body, mind and soul.
We each have a unique relationship with food and must tune into our bodies signals and really listen to what it is asking for. The relationship we have with food is probably the most important relationship in our lives. I believe we must continually work on nurturing and developing this relationship.
Our strength, stamina, endurance, vitality, motivation, creativity, energy and mood are all directly impacted by the foods we ingest.
The quality of the food we choose to consume either replenishes and revitalises our energy or it slows us down and drains our vital life force energies.
Good health is not only determined by the food we eat, there are many other contributing factors: Who we eat with, the times of day we eat, where we eat, how we are feeling when we eat, the combinations of foods and how well our digestion system is functioning are just a handful of factors.
Diets, Lifestyle and Veganism
Diets are scientifically proven not to work.
The more we resist something, the more we want it. Any short term weight-loss will statistically result in putting on more weight further down the line.
What is needed is a lifestyle change.
I always advice to make small, lasting, enjoyable and sustainable lifestyle changes over a period of time. This way, we can factor new habits into our lifestyle, enjoy the changes and feel their positive impact.
I have been guided by eating philosophies rather that diets.
I look to the past for inspiration and guidance from our ancestors.
Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Macrobiotic have been my inspiration over the years and I look forward to continuing expanding my knowledge in these areas to further develop The Holistic Chef Academy.
By listening to my body and tuning into what it craves and needs to thrive, I have evolved to a 100% wholefood plant-based lifestyle over the last 5 years. This has been an incredible personal journey and culinary adventure.
Benefits of reducing animal consumption
Since adapting a plant-based lifestyle, I have a more balanced sense of peace and well-being, along with many other health benefits.
My body feels lighter, fitter, cleaner, fresher and more vibrant. My digestion runs like clockwork and with a strong immune system, I cannot even remember the last time I had a cold or flu.
I feel more positive, motivated, compassionate and creative.
Contrary to popular belief; I have not suffered from a protein shortage or calcium deficiency! Quite the opposite, with regular fitness routines and a varied wholefood plant-based diet, my body is in the best shape of my life.
My athletic performance has gone through the roof, I do regular CrossFit, Yoga, Marathons and Muay Thai training.
With professional athletes, celebrities and even political figures progressing to a plant-based diet, why not the rest of us?
We can work towards this by consciously reducing our animal consumption. When we consider that animal production has led to more problems in our world than solutions, it just makes sense.
Carbon Emissions
I am very proud to be one of the first recipe bloggers in the world to display 'Food Carbon Footprint' on my recipes. You will find this information after the nutrition label on the bottom of the recipe card.
I believe in providing my readers and community with as much information related to the recipe, to help make more informed choices of what to eat.
The problem were faced with- confusion marketing
In our digital data overloaded age we live in, it has become increasingly convoluted to know and trust which ‘’diet’’ is actually good for us. There is countless contradicting evidence presented.
A so called ‘nutritionist’ can become qualified via an online course and then hand out skewed nutritional advice to people via their ‘blogs’ or selling all sorts of meal plan programmes or products.
The ‘diet’ industry is a multi-billion pound industry, each proclaiming they have the miracle diet 'cure'. Ironically, January is their busiest month, after the overindulgence of festive season.. Sad thing is that this excessive over indulgence has been manipulatively led by corporate entities… ultimately, to fill their pockets with our hard-earned cash.
Diets have been scientifically proven that they do not work - lifestyle change is whats needed. We need to break down negative food habits and build positive habits into our lifestyle.
Why do we eat what we eat?
We each have a unique relationship with food, that has evolved throughout our lives. Many factors influence our decisions on what we choose to eat. Advertising, social media, cultural, habit, nostalgia and travel are just a few.
The challenges we face
Ultimately, what we choose to consume every day is one of the most crucial factors in our short and long term health and well being. We are not only a result of what we eat: we are what our body can effectively digest from what we eat.
In this face paced faced busy world we live in, we've been convinced that we no longer have time to source, prepare and cook our own food.
We need to rely on food delivery apps and prepackaged ready-to-go supermarket meals for convenience on-the-go food.
This is all well and good from time to time… but what happens when we allow corporations and chain-restaurants to cook all our food? We put our health in the hands of others and lose touch with what we are putting inside our bodies. we lose sight of our connection with food, the earth and nature.
Cooking is one of the most vital life skills we perform on a daily basis.
What we sow, so shall we reap ... Everything we choose to eat is an investment. Our miracle bodies can put up with a certain amount of bad investments, but eventually it can breakdown and 'dis-ease' sets in.
We must choose to invest wisely, our health is our greatest wealth.
Good, fresh, tasty and wholesome food is one of the greatest life pleasures, and we can access this every day. Sourcing, preparing and cooking our own food is one of the best ways we can take ownership of our own health.
Holistic Chef Contribution
I’m not a nutritionist or dietitian… I’m a world travelling chef of 20 years, that grew up on a farmland in the West of Ireland, with my Mum, the home cook and nurturer, my Dad a teacher and poet.
My childhood upbringing and world culinary travels have helped open my mind to view food in a more holistic way. My honest and authentic approach to cooking is guided and inspired by ancient Ayurvedic philosophies originating in India 5000 years ago.
Ayurveda views food as medicine… when we give our body what it needs, it will heal itself from within and thrive.
Every human on earth has different nutritional needs, therefore, there is no one diet fits all. We each have to listen and tune into what our body needs.
All the answers lie within.
I feel there is a lack of education and awareness in the health food domain, which has motivated me to launch The Holistic Chef Academy to share the knowledge and help make a positive impact in people´s lives and the environment.
Why The Holistic Chef Academy
There is a need for honest food education, accessible to all: home cooks, professional chefs, children, athletes, sick, elderly.
The Holistic Chef Academy is a continuous work in progress, currently I am developing online and offline cookery courses, books, meal programs and recipe videos.
My intentions
- Educate with new recipes and techniques.
- Inspire with a new way of learning.
- Empower with more confidence and a new set of skills.
- Make a lasting and positive impact in peoples lives.
- Enable a ripple effect by developing a community of students and teachers to support and inspire each other as the academy grows.