About Susanna

Susanna Minichiello is a graduate of the Natural Chef Program at Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts, a course of study that specialized in cooking to support health. Her love of cooking began in an outdoors program in high school; food prepared on a tiny backcountry stove tasted impossibly delicious eaten with friends after beautiful and tiring day of exercise in the wilderness. During her undergraduate studies in Environmental Analysis at Pomona College, Susanna discovered sustainable agriculture as the nexus of her passions- environmentalism and eating. Food that comes from healthy, respected land and animals is both the most nourishing and most tasty.

Susanna’s interest in allergen-free cooking and cooking for other specific dietary needs was sparked when her mother was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2005. Susanna and her mother experienced first-hand the challenges in making and maintaining a dietary transition for optimal health. Developing recipes that her mother can enjoy with family and friends without anyone noticing they are gluten-free has been some of Susanna’s most enjoyable training. Other sources of inspiration include her work with Weston A. Price based Three Stone Hearth Community Kitchen in Berkeley, California and Café Zesta, an allergen-free organic café, and Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant both in Boulder.

Susanna currently lives in Boulder, Colorado. She also studies healing with foods using Traditional Chinese Medicine Five Elements guidelines and completed an intensive course on dietary healing using a combination of western nutrition and Traditional Chinese Medicine with Paul Pitchford summer of 2008. When not cooking or studying Susanna can be found rock climbing in one of the Front Range canyons, doing yoga, or biking around town. She also co-owns another business focusing on cooking classes and catering with the same high-quality, local and season ingredients- please check out Aprovecha-Back to Basics Culinary Education for more information and more recipes.