White teaches multiple nutrition courses to Quinnipiac students and is the sports dietitian for all athletic teams at the university. She recently published two cookbooks: “Healthy One Pan Dinners Cookbook” and “Healthy Vegan Air Fryer Cookbook.” 

Throughout the live, virtual cooking class, White offered several tips and tricks for making time in the kitchen more straight-forward and enjoyable:

1. To ripen an avocado faster, place it in a brown paper bag or next to apples or bananas — the fruits release ethylene gas which helps ripen the avocado.
2. Use herbs in your recipes. “They have a ton of nutrients in them, but we don’t usually think of them that way,” said White.
3. Adding some coconut oil to melted chocolate helps the chocolate look shinier and act more like a chocolate shell.
4. Using non-fat Greek yogurt is a healthy substitution for sour cream, immediately adding more calcium and protein.
5. Rinsing and draining black beans reduces sodium content by about 40 percent, which can be helpful for people with high blood pressure or those who are watching their sodium intake.

White took the time to include all the nutritional content for each recipe in her cookbooks.

“If someone is getting a health cookbook, they’re probably interested in the nutritional information,” said White, who emphasized that healthy meals can be stress-free and delicious.

Check out her collection of recipes.