Meet Lisa Boesen | Certified Vegan Chef and Award Winner Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lisa Boesen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
The most difficult decision for me was to go 100% plant-based after my husband’s diagnosis of Stage IV cancer. It’s not that we didn’t know to eat mostly vegetables and that we had not been told that plant-based was the best option to manage cardiovascular disease. It was more about the urgency given our medical situation in late 2018. My husband and I were shocked at the diagnosis after his prostate surgery and biopsy which then created a greater importance to do everything possible to mitigate the possibility of further metastasis after his treatment. He decided to go vegan overnight. I had to decide to either be a short-order cook or get on the wagon. We were already eating more cruciferous vegetables, but still mentally using meat as the primary ingredient in a dish. Now, we look back, and it was the best decision we had ever made! That was five years ago and his PSA scores are still undetectable AND we feel great!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Many times now, I feel my current work is a merge of a hobby and the culmination of my years in healthcare. I have always enjoyed cooking as a hobby but, like many, embraced the Standard American Diet as that is what we were exposed to. My healthcare career began in cardiopulmonary disease prevention and management and then transitioned into the administrative side of leadership development and training. Now, I feel I have gone full circle!
My mission is to leverage 35 years of clinical, leadership, and performance-improvement healthcare experience to help others celebrate life at any age. In my cookbooks, podcasts, videos, and classes, I want to bridge the culinary wonders and benefits of a plant-first lifestyle with the real world of work, family, and fun! There is always something new to discover in the plant-eating world!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Wow, there is so much to do in the area! We would paddleboard Horsetooth Reservoir or Carter Lake, drive the old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, have lunch at Mishawaka over the Poudre River, hike the Snowy Range or Kruger Rock in Kermit Park Open Space, visit Hazel Dell Mushrooms and as many farmers markets as possible, social dance with the Goodtimes Dance Club, test beers at Timnath Brewery and more, bike the trails, play some pickleball, enjoy a happy hour at Social, dance at the Exchange on Saturday nights in Fort Collins, enjoy a great plant-based dinner at Cafe Vino, and drop in for a great plant-based sandwich and browse the goods at one of my new finds, the La Boutique French Market and Bakery. I have a blog of cool stuff to do when visiting Fort Collins https://waterfordinn.wordpress.com/. Needs a little updating for 2024!
I recently completed a survey of restaurants offering vegan or vegetarian dishes and the list was quite impressive. The shoutouts are on my Instagram!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In early 2019, Forks Over Knives offered a very comprehensive whole foods plant-based cooking certification so I thought that would be a great place to start. It helped me with the initial transition of how to think in a more plant-based mindset. Later, in 2022, I completed a year-long course with the Vegan Gastronomy Plant-based Academy which was amazing. The lessons were fabulous and I also enjoyed learning from students around the world. These two certifications gave me the confidence to start creating my repertoire of recipes. In addition, I most appreciate all the Colorado growers and food crafters, particularly the Larimer and Boulder County Farmers Markets among other county markets I have visited over the years. Their support of local growers was the basis for the cookbook, Food ELEVATED. Colorado has such a rich agricultural and immigrant history. From Northern Colorado apples and the Four Corners beans to the Western slope peaches and Southeastern melons, I want to educate and showcase, in a plant-forward, vegetarian way, the amazing cuisine, history, and agricultural goodness we can enjoy in our kitchen and dishes for our loved ones.

Website: https://www.itsyourseason.life

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsyourseason.life/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaboesen/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsyourseason.life/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCICdX_gxFds9MNtWm0ysL1w

Image Credits
Jenelle Kemper
Travis Nickey