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Plant Chat: Ginger Hultin, Champagne Nutrition

Sharon Palmer

Welcome Ginger Hultin MS, RDN, CSO of Champagne Nutrition to my Plant Chat! Ginger is a life-long vegetarian and advocate for a plant-based lifestyle for all. She is a certified board specialist in oncology nutrition and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Master’s degree in nutrition.   She currently works at the scientific wellness company Arivale in Seattle as a registered dietitian coach optimizing wellness through nutrigenomics. Ginger also serves as adjunct clinical faculty at Bastyr University in the teaching clinic, where students see patients in a practicum-style environment. She serves as national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, past chair of Vegetarian Nutrition dietetic practice group, and past President of the Chicago Academy.   Follow along with Ginger on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and continue reading to learn more about her best tips for living the plant-powered life.

Tell us about your personal journey in the food and nutrition world. How did you get started and what inspired you?

I’m a lifelong vegetarian and I’ve always loved cooking since I was a child. But I worked in restaurants to get me through my English and Nutrition degrees, so I also have an affinity to going out and exploring new cuisines and dining experiences. Nothing excites me like trying a new restaurant.

My real catalyst to starting school for nutrition, though, was about 12 years ago when I was a personal trainer at a big gym in Seattle. I loved working with my clients but trainers had to meet sales goals selling supplements. My manager told me to put “nutritionist” on my business cards because “anyone can say they are one”. That didn’t sound right to me, so I did some research and… I quit! Instead, I spent two years at naturopathic university, Bastyr, earning my Masters of Science in Nutrition, continuing to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. I moved to Chicago to complete my dietetic internship at the Hines VA Hospital and ended up staying in that city for five years before moving back to the West Coast to practice in Seattle.

What was the inspiration behind your blog, Champagne Nutrition?

Champagne Nutrition is inspired by my clients, the time I spent working in restaurants, and my ongoing passion for wine and going-out culture. I spend a lot of time talking to people about how to include alcohol into their lives and still be healthy. Both my clients and I travel and go out to eat a lot so I talk about that on the blog. And I also post simple, healthy, plant-based recipes that we can easily make at home, as well as cocktails for when we’re staying in and entertaining.

What is your personal nutrition and wellness philosophy?

You can have what you love.

If you’re in tune with your body, you’ll notice that you start to love what’s good for you.

You crave exercise. You know your limits in wine drinking. You love fresh, unprocessed plant foods that make you feel vibrant. But never eat food that you don’t like – what’s the point in that?

What are your best tips to encourage people to eat more whole plant foods?

Order it when you’re out!

Go to a restaurant that specializes in plant-based cuisine and experiment to find out what you like.

Order a papaya salad, pumpkin curry, potato tacos, or hazelnut-crusted tofu. Try tempeh or tofu in a new way. Choose it on a menu and see if you like it. If you do, then you can find out how to make it at home and you’ve got a new vegetarian dish in your repertoire.

What are two of your best tips for people who want to eat a plant-based diet, but don’t know how to get started?

  1. Get a simple vegetarian cookbook. I always recommend Forks Over Knives because it has simple vegan recipes that always turn out perfectly and it offers a variety of international flavors and seasonal recipes. Follow plant-based dietitian blogs like Sharon’s or mine for constant recipe inspiration and tips. She always has the best roundups so you can find other veggie blogs.
  2. Add veggie foods to your grocery cart. Eating new foods means buying new foods. When you pick out your recipes to try out of your vegetarian cookbook or off the blog, make a grocery list and then buy new foods. Learn how to cut a leek! Carve a sugar pumpkin or crumble tempeh with your hands – get in there and experiment with an open mind.

If we opened your fridge today, what would we find?

I admittedly have a lot of champagne in there. I always have plant-based milks – soy and almond – packages of tofu and tempeh, a collection of hot sauces and the contents of my ugly fruits and veggies delivery box. Right now, they’re all about the beets. Some of them I roasted up to eat with olive oil, salt and pepper and some of them I turned into a beet cocktail. I like to keep my fridge pretty lean so that I can always see what I’ve got. My fridge is organized.

What are 5 plant foods you can’t live without?

  1. Broccoli: my favorite veggie since I was a kid. I make it several times each week and I always order it out if I see it on a menu.
  2. Tofu: so much prejudice out there against this awesome food! It is so healthy and delicious. I always have a package at home.
  3. Beans: I’m obsessed with all beans and eat them daily. They are so versatile in recipes.
  4. Berries: from smoothies to desserts, berries are a vegetarian’s best friend.
  5. Wine: haha – it comes from grapes! Honestly, it’s good to cook with and it’s good to drink while you’re cooking.

Here is one of Ginger’s favorite plant-powered recipes.

Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Mini Mason Jar Cheesecake

8 thoughts on “Plant Chat: Ginger Hultin, Champagne Nutrition

  1. What a fun post! I love learning more about other RDs and what brought them to where they are today. And I bet more people would jump on board the plant-based train if they realized that they could enjoy those Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecakes!

  2. Welcome, Ginger! Loved reading about you your accomplishments! Love your plant-based approach, as I am also a predominately plant based eater! Your recipe for the vegan strawberry rhubarb cheesecake looks DIVINE…I am making it ASAP! Thank you for the share 🙂

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