About a week ago, I was invited to a Healthy Eating event at the Whole Foods Market on Cambie street.

Disclaimer: I was invited to the event and I was not required to write a post.


(All Photography done by Nathalie de los Santos)

The focus was on their new program called “Health Starts Here”. Derek Sarno who has quite a diverse and expansive portfolio led the seminar with a cooking demonstration. He emphasized Four Pillars of Healthy Eating: Choosing Whole Foods (fresh, organic, unrefined/unprocessed), Plant-Strong (eating a variety of different coloured plants), Healthy Fats (avocados, almond butter, etc) and Nutrient Dense food.

He showed techniques to substitute salt (using blended dried mushrooms, coarse garlic and other herbs), ‘fry’ healthier (substituting oil with a little bit of stock) and a healthy way to prepare your vegetables (good old bamboo steamer!).

From these, he composed different bowls that consisted of grains, corns, beans and steamed kale, brussel sprouts and broccoli. The most interesting dish he prepared was the Kale salad he made – using raw kale, he added lemon juice which ‘cooks’ the kale and mixed in guacamole. On the top he sprinkled a little fresh salsa. It looked very appetizing.


(the flatbread to the right was SO delicious – made with shredded kale (i think?), tomatoes and olives.)

We also had other items to try – some lettuce wraps with different proteins and things inside, two flat breads – most notably the kale and olive flatbread that had a great balance and flavour and two desserts: banana bread and brownie balls covered with coconut.

I don’t know how these brownie balls were made without oil and processed sugar but they were so DAMN good. I was trying to find their recipe on the website, but I can’t find it. I asked Lisa of Whole Foods and she pointed me to a similar recipe that I might just have to try out (see here).

Anyway, if you’re looking to eat a little healthier this year but don’t know where to begin – their website has a tonne of great recipes. I can honestly say that if you asked me three years ago if I could cook healthy – the first thing that came to mind was making a simple salad. But there are so many delicious, mouthwatering and simple recipes, that’s its easier nowadays to make healthier choices.

You can check out their recipe page here.