Yasmina Lyazidi Nasib
The recipes you’ll find here are inspired by my Moroccan + Mediterranean roots, and the people and places I love. Growing up, I spent summers cooking with my family in Morocco and Spain and learning where food comes from at my grandfather’s ranch and farm. In Orlando, Florida my family opened and operated the Morocco Pavilion at Epcot, Walt Disney World for 36 years. I am passionate about cooking, nutrition, reducing waste in the kitchen, gardening and serving others. I love making healthy food delicious.
Mindful Moroccan offers simple recipes that fuel the body, balance mental health, and emphasize the benefits and power of individual ingredients. Most of my recipes are free of gluten, dairy and refined sugars. As a flexitarian, my cooking is plant rich and sometimes includes fish, seafood and meat. I eat everything that my body craves while being mindful of the foods that serve me best. I believe that if we listen to how our body responds to food, we can learn what increases and decreases our physical energy and peace of mind. The outcome is a creative and balanced relationship to food that serves our physical and mental health, and allows for indulgences.
My philosophy and passion for nutrition blossomed when I was navigating health issues while living in NYC. Traditional medicine and pills barely addressed my symptoms and never really the underlying issues. I began cooking and eating, with intention, foods that are higher in vibration and nutritional value. I became more connected to and aware of my well-being through mindful cooking, meditation and movement. I learned that we should use food as medicine or we are bound to eventually use medicine as food.
I believe everyone intuitively knows how to cook. It just takes practice. Love is at the heart of it. Cooking is a satisfying pleasure and allows us to be more thoughtful about what we eat. When we eat, we take nature into our bodies and are changed by it. Our body is our vehicle. We need to fuel it with the best possible nutrition for longevity and quality of experience here and now. When we cook, we don’t need to count calories or read nutrition and ingredient labels. There is something built into the nature of cooking that will take care of our health. Mindful cooking is the start of a healthy diet.
Currently, I am studying to be a registered dietitian nutritionist. My focus in school is the connection between nutrition and mental health. I also have a Media Studies and Communications degree from NYU. My goal is to combine my education and experience to empower others to rethink their relationship with food and develop mindful habits in the kitchen for healthy, balanced lives.
As an artist and communicator at heart, I love making something out of nothing and sharing everything I learn. At Mindful Moroccan, I share my explorations of different cultures through food, how I replace unhealthy ingredients with healthy ingredients, tips on saving time in the kitchen and reducing waste, and how to make delicious nutritious food. Cooking can be a delicious daily practice, not a bland burden.
I hope Mindful Moroccan can help you eat less processed foods, eat more nutritious and delicious home cooked meals with people you love, and connect with different cultures through cooking and food. I’m so grateful for you to join the Mindful Moroccan community.
“Everything in moderation, including moderation.” - Oscar Wilde