Chef and Nutritionist Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN, sure has come a long way since her earliest childhood creation of bologna-potato chip canapés. She’s a New York City-based classically-trained chef, registered dietitian nutritionist, award-winning cookbook author, professional recipe developer, and media personality. She’s passionate about plant-based cuisine and the environment. And she’s a lifelong fan of flavorful food. Jackie likes to call her eating style PLANTerranean.

Jackie’s newest book is now available--The Plant-Based Diabetes Cookbook (HCI Books, 2023)! She’s also the author of The All-Natural Diabetes Cookbook–2nd edition, (American Diabetes Association, October 2015); it was awarded a Silver Nautilus Book Award 2015! The first edition of the book was also award-winning, receiving the “Best Health and Nutrition Book in the World” by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2007. Her book, The With or Without Meat Cookbook (American Diabetes Association, 2014), is the first ever collection of delicious, plant-forward, flexitarian recipes perfect for diabetes, prediabetes, or heart health — plus it won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2014 for “Best Health and Nutrition Book–Institutions (USA).” Additionally, Jackie is author of the media-acclaimed Big Green Cookbook (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), 1,000 Low-Calorie Recipes (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), and The Clean & Simple Diabetes Cookbook (American Diabetes Association, 2020).

Be on the lookout, Jackie can be spotted as a culinary nutrition expert on television. Past appearances have included The Dr. Oz Show, ABC’s Good Morning America and World News Now, NBC’s Later Today and Dateline, Food Network’s Follow that Food, and The Daily Buzz. She has been a repeat guest on Planet Green’s Emeril Green and Martha Stewart Living Sirius Satellite Radio’s Whole Living. Additionally, Jackie can be seen as host of healthy cooking videos, including videos on the new Food Network Kitchen App.

Jackie is currently a 2023 Forbes Health Advisory Board Member and a contributing writer for TheHealthy.com. Her food articles, menus, and recipe features have been regularly seen in national online and print publications, including Livestrong.com and Rachael Ray In Season. She has been a columnist for top magazines, including Fitness’ “Healthy in a Hurry,” Woman’s World’s “Diet Club,” and Glamour’s “Eat More”. And as a culinary specialist, Jackie is frequently quoted in major national print and online media, including U.S. News, Everyday Health, and Eat This, Not That!

Jackie was a chef instructor with the recreational division of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City where she taught hands-on cooking classes for over 20 years. Her popular courses included Superfoods, Cooking for Fitness, and Luscious & Lean Vegetarian. Jackie collaborates on popular consumer books as a highly-experienced and versatile recipe developer and tester. She has worked as a freelance recipe developer at Food Network. Plus, Jackie is a private plant-based cooking instructor.

She’s often invited to speak and provide culinary demonstrations at consumer events and professional meetings, including the International Association of Culinary Professional’s Annual International Conference, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, Go Green Expo, and Kids Food Festival. As a food media spokesperson, Jackie can be seen throughout the country via satellite media tours or hosting virtual cooking demos. Some of her clients have included the Mushroom Council, California Strawberry Commission, Seeds of Change, Beyond Meat, German Agricultural Marketing Board, Scanpan, and The Wonderful Company. Jackie is a former national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

For nearly a decade, Jackie was a consultant for “Healthy Children Healthy Futures” a national after-school nutrition and fitness program targeted to city kids and parents. For the program, she wrote A Parent’s Guide to Healthy Eating and Physical Activity–a 100-page, full color guide for parents based on the “8 Habits of Healthy Kids.” She teamed up with Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, a comprehensive grassroots public health effort to mobilize and engage stakeholders at the local, state and national level to support salad bars in schools.

Jackie received her B.S. in Allied Health Professions from The Ohio State University and Certificate in Professional Cooking from Kendall College. She is an official Meatless Monday ambassador. Her favorite hobbies include hiking, biking, traveling, listening to live indie music, playing toss with her cat “Baby Duke,” attending sporting events, gallery hopping, hosting parties, exploring New York for the most intriguing cocktails and tastiest hidden food finds, and, of course, experimenting with veggie-filled recipes in her Brooklyn kitchen. She also loves educating others about sustainability and ways to help fight our climate crisis though environmentally-smart food selection and rather quirky (yet impactful!) preparation techniques, like “lid cooking” pasta and “hyper-baking” cookies.

Jackie’s mantra … “Go for great taste. Aim for plant-based. Try not to waste.”

For more, see Jackie’s recipe blog: jackienewgent.com/plant-based-recipe-blog. And follow her on social media: @jackienewgent.