Bonberi Founder Nicole Berrie Shares A Page From Her New Book

Bonberi founder Nicole Berrie shares a page from her new book.

As the beauty behind the buzzy West Village plant-based bodega Bonberi, founder Nicole Berrie has earned a cult following for her intuitive eating guidance and recipes. This spring, the wellness maven will release her debut book, Body Harmony: Nourishing, Plant-Based Recipes for Intuitive Eating (Abrams). Bursting with over 100 original vegan recipes for juices, smoothies, salads, soups and grounding grain-based dishes, we asked Berrie for a little taste to preview all that goodness.

What first sparked your interest in your wellness?

I started my career working in fashion as an assistant and then an editor. I loved how beautiful, exciting and fast paced everything was, but I found that there was a disconnect between creating things that looked good and feeling good. I quickly got burned out in my early 20s and ended up in search of balance and a better life.

I went on a deep dive, learning about plant-based eating, food combining, raw food, yoga, meditation—you name it! I used myself as a guinea pig to see what worked for me. While on this journey, I realized I was interested in well-being—wellness wasn’t a buzzword with a capital W at that time—and that there wasn’t a place that combined things that make you feel good with things that made you feel chic. So I started my online platform, Bonberi, in pursuit of that. Fast-forward to now, and in addition to the website and my Instagram, I run Bonberi Mart, a plant-based corner store in the West Village. Body Harmony is truly the culmination of this 10-year-plus journey.

How do you think your innovation (Body Harmony) fills a void or need in the community?

In the publishing world, there are specific categories: cookbooks, how-to books, self-help books. While I love (and have read!) many, I wanted to write a book that stretched beyond one category. Body Harmony provides recipes for balanced intuitive eating while also giving you the tools to help your mind and soul so you can thrive both physically and emotionally. With recipes, anecdotes and guidance, I hope it can help you thrive through nourishment.

How do you hope to bring about change?

If Body Harmony can shift the perspective of one person and help them feel free when it comes to nourishing themselves, it will have done its job.

What other projects or news can we buzz for the year ahead?

Bonberi Mart will be opening up a second location in Nolita! Our first location is in the West Village, so I am excited to be on the East Side for the second.

DULSE CAESAR SALAD

What really makes this is the dulse, a briny algae that’s, yes, packed with trace minerals and antioxidants, but also is a solid dupe for anchovies. If you can’t find dulse, nori or seaweed will work fine. Just don’t go easy on the pepper—“twist,” as my dad would say, “until your arm gets tired.” Because this salad is neutral, you can top it with avocado, a grain or grilled protein. You could even make the dressing and use it as a dip for crudites. It happily goes with everything!

Serves 2

SALAD INGREDIENTS

2 heads romaine
1 cup (120 ml) Dulse Caesar Dressing Garnish
1 tsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves
Freshly cracked black pepper

METHOD

Rinse the romaine and pat dry with paper towels. Wrap the leaves in a dish towel and refrigerate until ready to use; you want them to be ice-cold and crisp. Once the dressing is made, roughly chop the chilled lettuce: I like 1-inch (2.5 cm) bite-size pieces. Place the romaine in a large salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the leaves and toss with tongs until well coated. Sprinkle with the yeast and parsley and toss again. Generously crack the pepper over the salad. Serve immediately.

DRESSING INGREDIENTS

Makes 1 ¼ cups (300 ml)

DRESSING

4 large cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
¼ cup (½ oz./14 grams) packed dulse
leaves, or 2 large sheets toasted nori
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
¼ cup (2 ½ oz./70 grams) fresh parsley leaves
½ cup (120 ml) olive oil
¼ cup (60 ml) cold filtered water
2 Tbsp. tamari or coconut aminos
Sea salt
Juice of 3 lemons, or ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice
Freshly cracked black pepper

METHOD

In a food processor or blender, blend the garlic, dulse, yeast, parsley, tamari, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil and water until creamy. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. The dressing is best if it’s super peppery, in my humble opinion. It will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If you cannot find dulse seaweed, you can substitute toasted nori, which is a good dupe. But it won’t capture the same pungent “anchovy” flavor.