Jill Nussinow, aka The Veggie Queen™, is what she calls a hybrid – a Registered Dietitian and a culinary educator who has been teaching plant-based cooking for almost 25 years. When she started teaching in 1986 her focus was teaching vegetarian and vegan cooking with an emphasis on local, seasonal and organic ingredients. Since 1995 she has broadened her repertoire and has been teaching people about the joys of cooking vegetables and using the pressure cooker. In the past couple of years, she has incorporated teaching sprouting, fermenting and preserving foods, as well as ways to incorporate more “raw” foods. Nussinow says, "If the food came from the earth, I love to teach people about it. I especially like to introduce people to new vegetables and new-to-them foods such as quinoa or heirloom beans such as black beluga or Spanish pardina lentils, wild mushrooms or sea vegetables." In 2005, Jill published her award-winning book, The Veggie Queen™: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment and in 2007 she came out with the DVD Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes to aid her students in cooking fresh food fast and deliciously "green". Jill is at work on her pressure cooking cookbook due out summer 2011 (Book Publishing Company). Jill has been on the culinary faculty of Santa Rosa Junior College for more than 20 years, and has been teaching at cooking schools throughout the US, at festivals and events, farmer’s markets and more. She regularly teaches cooking for the McDougall Program in Santa Rosa, CA where she lives. Jill presents at a wide variety of venues, all with a focus on vegan eating and nutrition. She rarely mentions health. Jill writes regularly for Vegan Culinary Experience online magazine, VegFamily website and Express Chiropractic newsletter. She is a contributing editor to Natural Food Network (trade) magazine and a consultant to Amy’s Kitchen natural frozen foods and Lotus Foods. Jill has been a vegetarian since she was a teenager and has been a vegan for the past 8 years. She says, "Following a vegan diet has made me an overall more compassionate person. I have also learned to remain non-judgmental about what other people eat, hoping to lead by example through having a tremendous amount of energy and maintaining a youthful appearance and attitude. I hope that I present a role model that others will want to emulate. I do this through my classes, websites and monthly email newsletters." She adds, "Watching people moving toward a vegan and plant-based diet and seeing them regain health, strength and a positive attitude keeps me going. Knowing that there are always more people that might hear my message and have it resonate with them is why i keep teaching, writing and speaking on a variety of food and nutrition topics that promote vegan eating and a compassionate lifestyle in a compassionate and thoughtful way." Jill maintains her two websites www.theveggiequeen.com and www.pressurecookingonline.com, her website blog www.theveggiequeen.com/blog and her pressure cooking blog www.pressurecooking.blogspot.com as well as publishing a monthly email newsletter. In her spare time, you can find Jill doing yoga, reading books or walking on the beach in warm places.