Andrea Hinsdale, RD

Andrea Hinsdale’s food philosophy can be summed up in three sentences: “Eat real food. Enjoy moderate portion sizes. Be active.” Andrea believes that these basic concepts are the foundation to proper nutrition and healthy living. As the Chief Registered Dietitian at Snap Kitchen, she is determined to do her part in sharing this knowledge to help create a healthier population. 

Andrea graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, and has worked in various medical centers educating patients on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Utilizing her nutritional expertise, as well as her first degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, Andrea has seamlessly transitioned from the world of journalism to the restaurant industry.

When not snapping clients into a healthier lifestyle, she loves to garden, explore Austin, and try out new recipes on her most beloved audience, husband Josh and two young children.

• What's the best part about your job? The best part about being a dietitian at Snap Kitchen is that I’m not limited to suggesting healthy habits, we’re helping customers actually act on healthy lifestyle changes. Snap is helping people solve a problem by removing barriers to healthy food choices.

• What does "Health through Food" mean to you? “Health Through Food” means making choices that make you feel good. Snap believes you shouldn’t have to compromise to eat food that’s full of flavor and nutrition, but that still works with your busy schedule.

• Since BBQ is a staple down in Texas, what are your personal RD tips for making BBQ healthier? Skip the loaf of white bread, Mayo-heavy salads, and extra barbecue sauce, and attempt to stop eating all of that smoky, savory deliciousness before you’re full.

Claire Siegel, RD

Claire is Snap Kitchen’s Houston-area registered dietitian. After completing her undergraduate degrees in Nutrition and Plan II Liberal Arts from the University of Texas, she completed her dietetic internship through the University’s Coordinated Program in Dietetics. Claire’s back in her hometown now, helping to grow and share Snap Kitchen! Her food philosophy focuses on balancing whole foods and her penchant for red wine and dark chocolate.

When she’s not working, Claire is into cooking, live comedy, and getting crafty. She writes the food blog The Petite Professional, where she shares recipes, tips, and tricks to leading a healthy and active lifestyle as a busy young professional!

• What is your favorite go-to snack? If I’m at Snap Kitchen, then I’m likely snacking on the Curried Chicken Salad. At home, I love a cup of Greek yogurt with blueberries, almond butter and cinnamon.

• What does “Health Through Food” mean to you? Health through food means doing more with your food than just eating it. It’s a tool for nourishment, health, and healing. Bonus points if it can be delicious to boot.

• And finally, how do you make BBQ healthier? Opt for lean cuts of meat and/or remove some of the excess fat from things like brisket. Get sauce on the side, always. Toss half of the bun on your BBQ sandwich. Go for a green salad over coleslaw or potato salad. Or treat a BBQ meal as your weekly indulgence and ensure that you make good choices the rest of the week!

Thanks Andrea and Claire, and keep up all the good work at Snap Kitchen!

SPE Culinary Nutritionist, Allison Aaron, had the pleasure of sitting down with founder, Sid Lerner and president, Peggy Neu to learn more about the amazing project and the even more amazing people behind it.

1. Most people don’t realize that Meatless Monday was started during World War I as a way to conserve food for the war effort and was then restarted in World War II to help feed those in Europe. Sid, what inspired you to breathe new life into the campaign?

I was at a Johns Hopkins donor consultants meeting at the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) and the subject of the day was the Atkins diet, fat and cholesterol, and heart disease and stroke. Coincidentally, I had just been put on Lipitor – you know, very much like any other normal civilian who was having too much fat and meat. At the meeting, Bob Lawrence, the director of CLF, who was into the details of the USDA, FDA, and medical field, mentioned that as a nation we were probably having too much meat – about 15% more meat than we should.

Because the percentage was 15%, I could easily translate it to 3 meals out of 21, which is easier than picking 15% out of every plate and every meal. Being an advertising guy, I thought – how do you dumb it down and make it simple to communicate? So I figured: one day a week, don’t eat meat. Then I thought, “That’s a good idea, but what do we call it?” I dug back into my then younger memory to World War II when I was a kid and Meatless Monday was what Roosevelt was using for conservation, and I said “Gee that fits. Let’s try it!” And that’s how it happened. If it was 18% or 23% maybe it would have never happened. It was one of those fortunate accidents in conversation that results in something that becomes usable and memorable.

2. Sid, you have a long history in the advertisement field, so I am sure that you are well aware that the essence of marketing is image and public perception. It is also hard to change someone’s image of something that already exists – so starting with a product or campaign that never had anything to do with health and environmental preservation, did you incur any challenges in changing the messaging? If so, how did you overcome them?

That’s a very good question, but no we didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even think about that when we started it. That’s the beauty of the Monday Campaigns. While we started with the alliterative “Meatless Monday” we found that beyond the ring to it, Monday was, is, and always will be, a day that truly drives behavior. It seems that the 7 day week is what we really live by, and Monday is a day that people say “Hey I got a new deal and a new start!” We then realized that the Monday part of “Meatless Monday” was becoming more and more important. So while our first initiative was “Meatless Monday” we decided to add more, like Move it Monday and Kids Cook Monday. We then made Healthy Monday the umbrella campaign that can be used to promote overall wellness at work, school and in communities.

3. So Peggy, how did you get involved with the campaign?

(PN) I’m also from an advertising background. I was at Grey advertising for 20 years and then decided I wanted to move towards something more mission driven. I worked as a consultant on a social marketing project with the Department of Health and Human Services and then Sid recruited me. We met nearby in a Starbucks.

(SL) It was a marriage made in Starbucks!

(PN) Exactly! That was almost 7 years ago. In fact, July 1st will be my 7th anniversary. But it’s really been extraordinary. I think what’s been unique is this marriage between marketing and public health – we're trying to bring the discipline of marketing to selling healthy things. Meatless Monday demonstrates the power of this approach.

4. How do you measure the success and impact of Meatless Monday?

(PN) Since the beginning we’ve been doing annual tracking surveys – online surveys where we look at awareness and behavior change. With the last one we found that 46% of Americans are aware of Meatless Monday and 47% of those cutting back on meat said that they were influenced by Meatless Monday to do so. It also helps create habits. Once people start on it, they try to work it into their weekly routine.  Maybe they don’t always stick to it every Monday -- some will say, “Oh I didn’t do it Monday. I’ll do it Tuesday.” The idea is to link going meatless with a day of the week so the behavior can be sustained over time. We also know that as a result of doing Meatless Monday a majority of people are eating more fruits and vegetables – they are replacing meat with healthier things. In fact, Sodexo implemented a Meatless Monday program and then interviewed the operators to see what the net effect was.  What they saw was that there was an actual shift of purchasing more vegetables and less meat.

(SL) There was also an article in the Los Angeles times on how the healthy food movement is doing. That is, are people really eating more vegetables? And the conclusion was that people are very slow to change; however it also said that despite that, Meatless Monday is still growing. You know, the West Coast is very friendly to us. There are 600,000 thousand kids in LA schools that have had Meatless Monday for 5 years now.  Long Beach’s city council is actually voting today to make Meatless Monday an official resolution.

5. Have you experienced any particular challenges along the way? If so, how have you overcome them?

(SL) There is a layer of pushback no matter where you go. On the very same day, in the very same article of the Los Angeles Times, one person commented online, “Don’t have the government telling us what to eat! Why aren’t you fixing the sidewalks instead?” I confess I waste too much of my energy and my time reading comments on these articles – I’m convinced it’s a form of masochism! I guess if you look at it from the meat lobby perspective, we are devoted to taking away 15% of their business. They can’t be too happy about that. But then again, they are much larger than they should be.

(PN) To Sid’s point while we might be taking away 15% of someone’s business we are also adding that much to the vegetable growers’ businesses, which is what that Sodexo case study showed. 

6. Is there any particular moment or memory in your experience working here that epitomizes why you do what you do?

(SL) As corny as it sounds, it is the gift that keeps on giving – any time I hear about it being done by someone I’ve never met before, or it comes up on a Google alert, or I hear someone talking about it accidentally. For example, Chris Wallace was talking about his wife’s new book where she mentions Meatless Monday – who the hell expected Chris Wallace to be talking about Meatless Monday on TV?! The pay-off is there every time someone is doing it now, knows about it now, or is thinking about it now who didn’t before. And that’s cool!

(PN) For me it was our first gathering of global Meatless Monday advocates during Climate Week.  People flew in from all over – New Zealand, Kuwait, and Israel on their own dime. We were all so charged to be together and to share information and collaborate on how we can grow this movement around the world.   Then we joined together in the Climate March to call attention to the link between meat and climate change -- "less meat, less heat!".  Even the UN embraced the movement by serving meatless meals at several events on Monday.   And to think that it started here from Sid’s “Oh 15% is 3 out of 21”and now all over the world they’re doing it – that was so gratifying for all of us. It was just incredible.

Q: What prompted you to become a chef?

A: I’ve been cooking for as long as I remember, helping my mother as a 7 year-old in her Brooklyn kitchen! I love to cook and make people happy; it’s my life and passion. So I went to the CIA [Culinary Institute of America] for some formal training.

Q: As a young chef, did you have any culinary heroes you looked up to?

A: I grew up in the 80s and 90s when a handful of chefs were making their name as American icons – Larry Forgione, Charlie Palmer, David Burke, Jonathan Waxman, Alfred Portale... I was observing this diverse core group, admiring their innovations and viewing them as major leaders at the time.

Initially, though, I ended up taking a southwestern route and was into the works of Stephan Pyles, Robert Del Grande, David Walzog and Bobby Flay.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your career track and how you ended up at The Little Beet?

A: I first worked with Charlie Palmer, David Walzog and Bobby Flay before changing direction. Then my first real chef position was at Local, which got great reviews followed by stints as Executive Chef at Capitale, Brasserie and Trinity at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Then, later I became the Executive Chef of Abe & Arthur's before being promoted to Corporate Chef for the EMM Group, which was bridging the gap between nightlife and fine dining.

Q: How is The Little Beet different from other so-called “healthy grab and gos”? What makes The Little Beet unique?

A: Health comes naturally; we don’t consciously think about it, but rather focus on food that tastes great – that also happens to be healthy. We don’t follow trends, we set them; for example, The Little Beet is 100% gluten free, a key differentiator versus our competitors.

Q: Do you think The Little Beet is tailor-made for a New York sensibility, or does it have broader, more national appeal?

A: Not national, but global! In 10 years, we’d like to be at 100 units and become a household name. It’s ambitious, but our objective is to tackle food-related illnesses by changing the way America eats. Soon, we will be opening three locations: Park and 51st, the Financial District and Roosevelt Fields on Long Island. And in October we’ll be premiering a sit-down version of The Little Beet on Park and 24th.

Q: “Wholesome food” is clearly a guiding ethos at The Little Beet. Could you describe exactly what that means to you?

A: Good ingredients prepared simply and well, showcasing their natural benefits and great taste. The word healthy is overused and didn’t quite capture what wholesome communicates, namely great tasting food that is good for you.

Q: What is your “go to” healthy ingredient?

A: I have several -- can’t just name one! Avocados (what a great texture!) and nuts (amazingly versatile and so good for you). And in the fast casual world, citrus (for the flavor “bombs”) and fresh herbs are sorely underutilized; we want to change that.

Q: SPE Certified’s goal is to bring healthy AND delicious food to as many people as possible. Has nutrition always been important to you as a chef?

A: Honestly, it was never a priority until I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes at age 27. So initially my interest in vegetables, fruits, grains and healthy fats was for selfish reasons, but that has morphed into a profound appreciation of how great food, simply prepared, can be a life-changer.

Q: As a chef, what inspired you to make health a priority when preparing food for your customers?

 Some people may disagree, but I truly believe that we first and foremost “eat to live” and not “live to eat.” Now, our jobs as chefs is to make the process as enjoyable as possible. As chefs, we should be an example to our customers and the public on food practices. Sourcing the best ingredients, grown locally and with practices that preserve the environment, as well as the health of our patrons, are all top priorities.

And the best part is that we do this while keeping really tasty dishes on the table!

Q: How do you envision SPE Certified helping you achieve these health-focused objectives?

SPE gives us a chance to work with experts in both the nutrition and the culinary fields. I am a chef and I cook, so I may know a thing or two (or three…) about nutrition, but having someone whose main area of expertise is culinary nutrition, readily available to help with training, answer questions and offer tips and ideas is an amazing thing.

Q: Do you have a favorite (healthy) ingredient?

I am learning that most ingredients can be “healthy” when used appropriately and in the right quantity. Most things are good in moderation! My latest find is chia seeds. I love playing with them; their nutty flavor and cool thickening abilities are giving me some new ideas for savory and sweet applications.

Q: Who are your culinary heroes? Did you have a mentor when you were learning your trade?

I’ve cooked with lots of amazing chefs -- some famous and some less-so -- but all with tremendous talent. The first chefs I worked with in Switzerland -- Georges Wenger and Freddy Girardet -- will always be people I look up to. In America, I had a chance to work with Jean-Louis Palladin in New York and Las Vegas, which was quite an experience! But I have to say that the farmers and artisans that provide the ingredients that I cook with are my true heroes; I would not be able to do anything without them and their passion.

Q: A lot of chefs seem to have a favorite piece of equipment or utensil. What’s yours and why?

A flower pot and some good compost. You can’t beat fresh herbs to add to any dish! But to be more conventional I like a good cast iron skillet, nice and heavy.

See more information about Triomphe's SPE-certified dishes.

Keep up with Chef Wehrli on Twitter at @Flowehrli and Triomphe Restaurant at @TriompheNY

Q: The UMass dining program has already won a number of awards and was named #3 best campus food in the 2013 edition of the Princeton Review’s Best 377 Colleges. What are the initiatives that have been put into place to get you in to that top 3?

A: We put our students first while continuing to enhance our four pillars: healthier cuisine, sustainability/permaculture, flavors and world cuisines.

Q: Would it be fair to say that sustainability is important when it comes to the UMass dining program?

A: Sustainability is one of our guiding principles. We also aim for sustainable growth through regeneration.

Q: Heading up an operation that serves 40,000 meals a day must be quite a challenge. How did you end up in the world of campus dining?

A: I thrive on being surrounded by lots of engaging, innovative people where customers are put first and opportunities are endless. I firstly see myself in the people business and --of course -- I love good food!

Q: Having already achieved so much, what are your future plans for the program?

A: I believe that success is never final, and so we will continue to innovate. We also plan to spend $70 million to renovate our major dining facilities.

Q: As “Executive Director of Auxiliary Services”, what does a typical day in the life of Ken Toong involve?

A: Planning, coaching, motivating, talking to our staff/customers and tasting food.

Q: In the consumer market, diners are becoming more interested in nutritious, local and sustainable food. Do you see similar trends occurring with students on campus?

A: Our millennial diners are demanding food that tastes good, and is good for them while also supporting sustainability efforts

Q: The fact that UMass is partnering with SPE Certified beginning Spring 2013 semester is a very exciting development. What was it about SPE Certified that made you feel it could complement/enrich the university’s current, cutting-edge dining program?

A: We want to be one of the healthiest dining programs and most sustainable universities in the nation. SPE Certified will assist us to accomplish our goals through recipe development, refining some of our cooking methods and using healthy ingredients.

Rouge Tomate Executive Chef Jeremy Bearman and Culinary Nutritionist Kristy Lambrou discuss how they apply the principles of SPE in a real-life kitchen setting.

Video courtesy of www.genconnect.com

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Dr Pamela Peeke and SPE Certified Culinary Nutritionist Andrea Canada sit down to talk about SPE Certified's unique certification program, as well as a philosophy of sourcing, preparing and enhancing food.

See the original interview

Q: SPE Certified’s goal is to bring healthy but delicious food to as many people as possible. Has nutrition always been important to you as a chef?

A: Yes!  I began my career as a chef working for Michel Nischan at Heartbeat Restaurant in NYC.  This was NYC’s first high-end, no cream, no butter concept in the early 2000’s. Although always living a very active lifestyle and paying close attention to my own nutrition, this started me on my path towards becoming a “Healthy Chef”. 

After Heartbeat I left for Europe to cook at the 2 Michelin Star Vila Joya in the Algarve region of Portugal. Here I developed a deep respect for ingredients as we would sometimes forage the cliffs surrounding the resort for fresh herbs, flowers and berries.  Upon my return to the States, I was hired by Danny Meyer as a sous chef at Eleven Madison Park. There I continued to hone my culinary skills at one of NYC’s most popular restaurants.

I then wanted to share the knowledge and experience I have been fortunate to receive so I took a teaching position at The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Art. Given my love of being outdoors, staying healthy and fit naturally and my passion for cooking, I started The Natural Training Center with a good friend in order to bring this philosophy of a natural, clean and healthy lifestyle to everyone.

Q: What made you decide to leave the restaurant kitchen and join SPE Certified as Executive Chef?

A: When I was approached with the opportunity to lead SPE Certified as Executive Chef, I felt that this was possibly a position where I could make a profound impact on the state of health in this country, and heighten awareness by both chefs and their guests that we have a responsibility to ourselves and the Earth!

My initial meeting with SPE Certified’s Founder and CEO, Emmanuel Verstraeten, left me with the impression of someone that truly cares about this mission, and it was a match made in heaven! Here was a place that I could bring my high level cooking experience, my desire to teach people and my passion for health and nutrition together on a world-class platform. 

Q: Could you give me an insight into the process of creating an SPE dish? Who and what does it involve?

A: What it takes to create an SPE Certified dish is the beauty of SPE. I have the honor of working with some of the best culinary talents in the country and create beautiful dishes with them and within their culinary vision but with the added benefits of being healthy dishes as well, thanks to the amazing culinary nutritionists on the SPE team.

In terms of our process, it’s important to know that SPE Certified is very respectful and mindful of the partner restaurant’s and chef’s culinary vision. We don’t impose our recipes but rather help adapt the chef’s existing ones.

Typically, we take the original recipe from our partner restaurant’s chef, our Culinary Nutritionists analyze it for a nutritional profile and suggest ingredient substitutions/additions. Then either I or the partner restaurant’s chef will cook it to make sure it still tastes amazing. During the process, we also suggest alternative cooking methods that can maintain and enhance the nutritional properties of a dish.

If we are creating a proprietary recipe for a restaurant, I will then create a new dish from scratch and have it analyzed by our Culinary Nutritionists Natalia Hancock and Andrea Canada. They’ll give me a nutritional profile which allows us to capitalize on any food synergies and maximize flavor.

Q: As a chef, do you ever find it difficult to be creative while sticking to the SPE guidelines?

A: Oh no. On the contrary, I find that it heightens my creativity. Nutrition knowledge means we can make healthy and intelligent substitutions that don’t affect the taste of the dish.

Q: Who are your culinary heroes? Did you have a mentor when you were learning your trade?

A: My first and all-time culinary hero would be English Chef Marco Pierre White.  Not only was he the first English Chef to receive 3 Michelin stars, but also the youngest chef in the world to accomplish that feat.  I was first struck by Marco’s passion for the kitchen and delivering the best possible product he could. His actions and attitude were legendary.  He was truly the first “Rock Star” Chef.

As for my mentor, it would have to be Chef Michel Nischan.  Aside from being my first chef, he is at the forefront of healthy cooking and sustainability.

Q: Most chefs seem to have a favorite kitchen utensil – what is yours?

A: My favorite utensil is my first knife. It is a Misono, high carbon steel slicer that is completely stained (carbon steel stains not because it’s dirty), has the perfect length (9”), fits great in my hand and I can get it razor sharp after a few strokes on my Japanese water stone.

Q: Do you have a favorite ingredient?

A: Plants.

Q: Any there any particular plants you’ve been using recently?

A: I incorporate seasonal plants into every dish that I create. Being that I use seasonal and local varietals, they are constantly changing depending on what is at its peak. Sourcing ingredients at their peak times allows me to not only maximize flavor, but also the nutritional properties of those ingredients.

Q: If you could eat at any restaurant in the world, which one would it be?

A: Joe Beef in Montreal. Although probably not considered the healthiest of restaurants, I admire the hard work and creativity that the chef/owners display. I like the fact that they are original, they source their ingredients locally, have recently published a great and different cookbook and they are in the beautiful city of Montreal.

As Founder & CEO of SPE Certified, Emmanuel Verstraeten is the driving force behind SPE Certified’s vision to become the leading authority on exceptional taste, health and sustainability when eating outside of the home. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Emmanuel and gaining his perspective on how and why the world needs SPE Certified’s services:

Q: For those who are unaware of SPE, what are its origins and objectives?

A: I created SPE to build a bridge between science and the culinary world, with the idea that healthy food could actually be delicious. So in 2001, I brought together a chef and a dietitian (truly an odd couple!) and opened the first SPE restaurant in Brussels named Rouge Tomate.

From the beginning, though, the goal was to expand beyond Rouge Tomate. The restaurant was only its “incubator”, its real-life laboratory. When I decided to open a Rouge Tomate in New York, the idea was to showcase SPE and prove that it could work at the very highest level. It has taken a few years to adapt SPE to reflect America’s nutritional priorities, but we’re now ready to launch SPE across the country.

Q: What does SPE mean?

A: SPE stands for Sanitas Per Escam, literally Health Through Food in Latin. I thought it was an ideal “promise” for a unique third-party certification and consulting program designed to enhance the nutritional quality of meals, without compromising taste."

Q: You mention that SPE has been developed over the last ten years. How were your guidelines shaped during that period?

A: The idea behind SPE came about in 2001. In the Brussels kitchen of Rouge Tomate, our dishes were created by applying the latest in nutrition science to our food and closely following the principles of the Mediterranean food model. Over the subsequent years we tested these guidelines in the kitchen, using our customers as a continuous focus group. The feedback helped Rouge Tomate’s chef and dietitian to investigate and find culinary solutions to entice people to actually eat what was put together on the plate, based on these scientific principles.

To make sure that we were using the latest and most relevant science possible, we also formed a scientific committee of nutrition experts from leading universities in Belgium."

Q: The philosophy of SPE has been a big success at Rouge Tomate Brussels. Why did you decide to bring the idea to New York in particular?

A: New York is known around the world as an iconic city and is equally as iconic when it comes to food. With so many great restaurants and such a richly diverse variety of cuisine, it has also become known as a city that has positioned itself at the center of culinary innovation.

I feel that historically New York is often at the forefront of avant-garde movements – art, architecture, music, theater, and of course, food! It therefore seemed fitting that we launch SPE Certified, an avant-garde movement in itself, here in New York City.

Q: To some people, the sound of healthy food that also tastes great is too good to be true. How are you aiming to change people’s attitudes towards healthy food?

A: The just-released Food Information Council Foundation’s 2012 Food & Health Survey finds that taste remains the number one influence on food choices, which has been from the beginning a priority for us. Our Executive Chef and culinary nutritionists work with our partner restaurants to ensure that SPE-certified dishes are nutritious and healthy, without compromising on taste.

I believe we can change people’s attitudes by simply proving that healthy food can taste amazing -- one dish at a time. There’s a misconception that healthy food has to be bland and flavorless, but I’m hoping to disprove this on a larger scale with the help of the chefs and restaurants nationwide that are currently joining our movement.

Q: How do you validate SPE’s guidelines? How are those guidelines drafted?

A: In 2008 , along with the launch of SPE and Rouge Tomate New York, I formed a US Scientific Committee comprised of top health and nutrition experts -- Eric Rimm from Harvard, Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts and John Foreyt from Baylor -- who make sure that the SPE charter is consistent with US nutrition science, and is constantly updated to reflect the latest research. The SPE Scientific Committee also answers any questions the SPE team may have when working with clients.

Q: Do you have plans to take SPE further afield than NYC?

A: The latest projections regarding obesity rates are shocking. It’s estimated that by 2030, 42% of the population will be obese. Obesity rates increase year-on-year and an ever-increasing number of Americans are being diagnosed with diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. There’s not only the issue of public health, but also the issue of inflating healthcare costs.
I created SPE with a real desire to affect positive change and to help change people’s attitudes towards food. The end goal is to reach as many men, women and children as possible with SPE. I want SPE to expand beyond the NYC restaurant scene and to become known on a national level, because I think it’s important for SPE to have a real impact on attitudes and health across the country.