COLORADO SPRINGS – It’s not exactly news that Minnesotans are good cooks. But one former Minnesotan, from Alexandria, no less, is popping up in places like
Food & Wine
,
Martha Stewart
,
Good Housekeeping
,
HuffPost
,
All Recipes
,
The Times
,
Real Simple
,
Better Homes & Gardens
, and more.
Emmy Clinton left Alexandria with her family about 12 years ago, when she was 16. Now 28 and living in Colorado with her husband, Clinton, she’s a recipe developer, cook, and founder of the healthy recipe site,
Entirely Emmy!
“Noonan Park with my best friend, Ellie Hurlen, who still lives in Alexandria!” writes Emmy of this photo.
Contributed photo / Emmy Clinton
But in a cyber-environment where food sites, recipe content creators, cooks and chefs about, how did she start attracting national attention?
“I found out I had celiac disease when I left for college, and so I can’t have gluten,” Clinton explains, “and so a huge part of that was learning what I could eat, what I couldn’t eat – but then eliminating foods that are really good. And I was so discouraged. I was just really bummed, because I loved baking. And it really led me to start cooking with whole foods that were gluten-free, refined-sugar free, but they didn’t compromise on flavor. And so I feel like that has been something that has really made my business stand out: whole foods that you wouldn’t think are good, but are so delicious.
“The thing that I’ve really focused on is the process of cooking healthy and good food,” Clinton continues. “So that’s been a lot of what I’ve highlighted: How to cook chicken well, and how to roast brussel sprouts well. My focus is making foods that are healthy actually taste good. And I think that’s had a huge impact on getting national attention.”
For a lot of folks, you lose them at “brussels sprouts.” Clinton laughs her infectious laugh when asked, “How do you make a brussels sprout taste good?”
“I love that question,” she says. “One thing that I’ve started doing is — first off, long roasting changes it. It makes any vegetable taste so delicious, if you roast it for an hour and a half to two hours on a lower heat. That has been something that has changed my love for vegetables.
Emmy Clinton’s Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts.
Contributed photo / Emmy Clinton
“But then I make the best
Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts
. I toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic, honey and then, it’s called Thai chili crunch. Just adding flavors I love, into veggies in general.”
Even though it’s been a minute since Clinton left the state, what does she carry forward and say, this is what I’m bringing to the world through having grown up as a Minnesotan?
“I think so much, she answers, without hesitation. “One thing I take pride on is being a kind person. I feel like growing up in Minnesota, you grow up with so many people that are loving and kind and just wonderful to be around. [They] ask questions. And I think it really taught me to love people a lot and see people for who they are and just get to know people.
Emmy Clinton and her family at Lake L’Homme Dieu
Contributed photo/ Emmy Clinton
“Definitely the Minnesota Nice has been a refreshing thing to carry through my life. My parents grew up in Minnesota too, so that is something that I grew up with and continue to have in my life, living in Colorado now.
“I think it’s really helped me build a community of friends too. And then I married a New York Italian. He’s such a straight shooter and doesn’t beat around the bush with anything. So it was fun to bring my Minnesota background into our marriage and then learn from him, too, and learn how to be a better communicator. I felt like I did avoid conflict, and so just learning to mesh that. He received it really well and also taught me a lot!
Emmy and her husband at their wedding three years ago.
Contributed photo / Arleeography
“I think he values truth and honesty and exactly what I’m feeling. I think it has really grown me to have to talk through things in the moment and learn how to do it in a way that’s helpful. And be a better listener. I think sometimes there is an aspect of the Minnesota Nice that just prefers peace and lack of conflict, you know?”
So what would Emmy Clinton want her home community to know about how, and what, she’s doing these days?
Emmy Clinton.
Contributed photo / Emmy Clinton
“I ran a half Ironman [this year] and it was something I just never dreamed of doing,” she says, still sounding a little amazed. “I think that you can do the hard things with proper nutrition and fueling, and that just shifting the way I thought about food and the way I feel in my body, instead of seeing something wrong as a limitation, but rather pressing into it and growing in it and making it a mission versus something to just discourage me has really changed my life.
“I know it sounds like a small thing, but I remember being so sad. And it’s so cool that something that was really a limitation in my head at first, has grown into such a sweet opportunity to help people and grow a business and do what I love with nutrition and activity. It’s given me a different outlook on a lot of things. I just think it opened my mind to the way I saw myself and the things I could do and become.”
Lisa Johnson has been a broadcast journalist, anchor and producer over half her life. She started her broadcast career spinning country music at KWWK/KOLM Radio in Rochester, Minnesota. She’s worked in Moorhead, Bismarck, Wahpeton and Fergus Falls, and spent the last 30 years hosting a morning news show in Duluth. She is glad to be back closer to family in western Minnesota, and is an unabashed morning person.
Story ideas? Email ljohnson@echopress.com
Dining and Cooking