Nice work, if you can get it.

Today we’re catching up with friend of the pod Justin Timineri. As executive chef for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service’s Fresh From Florida program, he is the state’s official culinary ambassador. Sounds like a sweet gig, right? It is. But as you’ll hear, it’s also a lot of work.

Dalia recently caught up with Chef Justin. In their conversation, he recalls his earliest food memories from his Tallahassee childhood, shares stories from his remarkable career that has included showcasing our state’s food all over the world and his favorite Florida food trends.

To learn more about Chef Justin Timineri, check out Dalia’s profile of him in the spring issue of FORUM, the magazine of Florida Humanities. 

Today we’re getting to know dietitian Deanna Wolfe. But she needs no introduction if you’re among her hundreds of thousands of social media followers.

On Instagram and TikTok, Deanna is an open book. She chronicles her journey recovering from an eating disorder, what she eats in a day as postpartum mom (including dessert every night!) and even her income, for the scores of other dietitians she mentors.

Dalia met Deanna at a USF Health event and couldn’t get enough of her common-sense nutrition advice. So she invited Deanna to our studio at WUSF to share her approach with you.

In this conversation, Deanna gives her take on trends like seed oil, green powders and Ozempic and offers guidance for anyone struggling with disordered eating. 

If you’re not already doing so, be sure to follow Dietitian Deanna on Instagram or Tiktok. She shares some great info and her posts are so relatable. She IS like us!

Related episodes:

• 7 Tips for Eating More at Home: Advice from Dietician/Nutritionist Wendy Wesley

• Eat Better, Feel Better: Simple Swaps from Carly Paige of FitLiving Eats

• Guac This Way: Sleepy Lizard Avocado Farm in the Everglades Specializes in Florida (Green) Avocados

• Brunch Advice from First Watch

By Dalia Colón

Spring is upon us, so it’s time to tackle all those projects we’ve been putting off. Maybe you need to organize the garage, file your taxes or flip your mattress. While you’re making that checklist, remember to prep for spring cooking—planting warm-weather vegetables, gearing up your grill and, yes, cleaning out the pantry.

But resetting for spring doesn’t have to be intimidating. Here to help is Mackensy Lunsford, editor of USA Today’s cooking website, Southern Kitchen. She’s also a chef, cookbook author and senior dining reporter at the Tennessean.

Mackensy recently chatted with Dalia from her home in Nashville. In this conversation, she shares advice for starting a spring garden, mitigating pests and planting vegetables that can withstand the South’s heat and humidity. She also offers tips for organizing your pantry, embarking on a new-spend month (or at least spending less) in order to use up the nonperishables you already have and making the most of your grill. Finally, Mackensy suggests meal ideas that’ll make all your hard work pay off.

Related episodes:

At Solid Rock Community School in Tarpon Springs, every item that comes out of the cafeteria is 100 percent plant-based. Families can even order vegan to-go meals to take home and eat for dinner. That puts Solid Rock in a pretty small group of K-12 schools in the U.S. that are completely plant-based. 

The idea for a plant-based cafeteria came from Solid Rock’s founder and executive director, Michele Fasnacht, who started the school in 2004. The K-12 private school also offers programs like gardening, culinary arts and veterinary education alongside academics.

The Zest team met up with Michele in the school office. In our conversation, she explains why she overhauled the school’s menu. In this episode, you’ll also hear from some Solid Rock students about what they think of the cafeteria food now. 

Thanks to Louise Krikorian for suggesting this episode. If you’d like to suggest a Zest guest, email us: [email protected]

Related episodes:

This week, we’re getting real about what we feed kids. Whether or not you have children of your own, we all have a role to play in helping the next generation make healthier choices.

Dr. David Berger isn’t here to shame anyone. But as a pediatrician and the face of Wholistic Pediatrics & Family Care in Tampa, he sees every day how nutrition—or lack thereof—affects kids’ health and behavior. 

Dalia visited Dr. David at his office in Tampa. In their conversation, he explains why kids and adults should steer clear of ultra-processed foods, reflects on why many school lunches are problematic and offers advice for getting back on track.

For more from Dr. David, check out his YouTube channel, DrDavidMD, where he addresses issues including fluoride in drinking water, the raw milk trend, the FDA’s banning of red dye No. 3 and more.

Related episodes:

Prof. William Schanbacher, Ph.D., breaks it down.

If you've ever dreamed of hosting a food TV show, being a private chef or working in a high-end restaurant, then this conversation is for you—because today's guest has done all of that, plus a lot more, in his young career.

Get to know Chef Terrell Manning. The St. Pete native has experience as a private chef, food TV host, restaurant co-owner, host of the roadshow America’s Best Restaurants and more.

The Zest team met up with Chef Terrell at the Sorry Not Public co-working space in Tampa. In this conversation, he offers lessons from his culinary journey in his book The Love Languages of Food.

Related episodes:

• Chef Hart Lowry Brings a World of Experience to Sarasota Restaurants

• Sarasota Magazine Food Writer Lauren Jackson’s Job Is Harder Than You Think

• Chef Kenny Gilbert on Southern Food, Teaching Kids to Barbecue and Cooking for Oprah

Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for football—and guacamole. But how much do you know about avocados—specifically the green variety, also called Florida avocados?

Today we’re doing a deep dive with Tom Siddons. He and his wife own Sleepy Lizard Avocado Farm in the Everglades, where they grow and ship avocados, mangos and other tropical fruits. Tom also hosts the popular Sleepy Lizard YouTube podcast about their farm.

In this conversation, Tom shares why he got into the avocado business and offers tips for planting the best-tasting avocados right in your own backyard.

Thanks to Sonya Bryson-Kirksey for suggesting this episode. Who do you want to hear on the podcast? Send your Zest guest suggestions to: [email protected].

Related episodes:

• Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101

• Super Bowl Chef to Showcase Florida Flavors

• Conscious Cuisine: Edible Gardening Tips from Albert Risemberg

• The Olive Grove Brings a Taste of Tuscany to Brooksville

Kiera Wright-Ruiz has an impressive resume: food writer with creds in The New York Times and Bon Appétit. Photographer for big-name brands including Taco Bell. Recipe developer for the Japan Times, The Kitchn and Food52. Picture book author.

We could go on.

But perhaps most impressive is the vulnerability Kiera displays in her latest work, My (Half) Latinx Kitchen. Part cookbook, part memoir, the book explores her multicultural roots through a lens of food. Between mouthwatering recipes, photos and illustrations are personal essays about her mixed heritage (her father is Ecuadorian, and her mother is Korean), father’s drug addiction, time in foster care and other personal subjects not usually found in a recipe book. The result is a work that will feed both your body and soul.

Dalia chatted with Kiera, who grew up in South Florida and now lives in Tokyo.

Related episodes:

• Talking Seoul Food with Miami’s 2 Korean Girls

• For Storyteller Natasha Samreny, Multicultural Family Dinners Set the Table for a Comedy Career

• From Florida to France: Food Writer Jamie Schler on Cooking with Oranges, French Hotel Life and More

This week on The Zest Podcast, revisit Dalia's conversation with Toni Tipton-Martin. The renowned food journalist won James Beard Awards for her books The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks and Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking. Martin also serves as editor-in-chief of the Cook’s Country magazine and television show.

This conversation was recorded at the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival in 2020. (Yep, that 2020.) The episode was hand-picked for you by The Zest's brand manager, Alexandria Ebron.

Related episodes: