We hopped into the kitchen with Chef Nick Wallace who we enjoyed seeing his passion and love for Jackson, Mississippi. In addition to being the Founder and Executive Chef of Nick Wallace Culinary, Nick Wallace Catering and Nissan Cafe by Wallace, we enjoyed seeing him as a finalist in Top Chef Season 19 in Houston, Chopped episodes, winner of Food Network Canada's Fire Masters and he appeared on CNN's Nomad with Carlton McCoy. We talk about the importance of Mississippi when it comes to creating his dishes and bringing awareness to the culinary scene there. We also talk about why giving back to others is essential and also how we can focus on creating great meals when we're busy that still have love and full flavors!

ATHLEISURE MAG: I was such a fan of watching you during Top Chef Season 19 and it’s so great to be able to talk with you right now and as a finalist you showed us your love for food, where you passion came from – when did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF NICK WALLACE: So I realized that I wanted to be a chef honestly when I was maybe in my late 20’s. It was something that I always knew that I was good at was cooking. I was cooking as a teenager and I was good at it because my grandmother taught me. But in my late 20’s, I just had to look around my perspective in Mississippi and when I didn’t see that many chefs and executive chefs that were really trying to push it that were of my color, that’s when I said, now it’s time for me to write my story and it’s time for me to ask my elders about the stories that I could reshape who I want to be and that’s when I had my answer!

AM: Your passion for Mississippi whether it’s supporting local producers or giving back via your non-profit Creativity Kitchen to support healthier meals for children and schools is amazing. Why is this so important to you?

CHEF NW: Well, my grandmother told me one thing! When you get things in life, you need to give back just as much. It took me awhile to really figure that out. But the one thing that she was really getting at is that your circle, your environment that’s around you – as you grow up in life, other people need to be able to grow with you and that’s the same way that you should be doing business as well. That’s the reason why I’m in line with Ben’s Original because they have some of the same beliefs and they care about their community.

AM: As the Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director of Athleisure Media, I think about our readers at Athleisure Mag and our listeners of Athleisure Kitchen for Athleisure Studio, they’re busy, they’re always in the mix of doing things. They want to eat well, they want to have healthy meals, they also want to be able to prepare things easily so that they can go from one place to the next. How can they do that, keeping it elevated and also having some hacks whether it’s cooking for themselves or their coupleship or friends and family that come over.

CHEF NW: Yeah, that’s probably one of the most tough things is to cook for 1 individual. Because honestly the way that I was raised, you cook big pots – that’s what you do. You honestly have to bring all of that down and then it’s time that you have to get sandwich bags – it’s not about the Ziplock bag form anymore, things have to be smaller. So, when you’re dicing and pre-prepping you just need to be able to put things into ramekins and put it in your refrigerators because honestly, you don’t need a whole onion. So when you’re cutting things, portion them out – it’s all about portion control when it’s 1 or 2 people, because you will waste a lot and you don’t want to do that.

AM: Absolutely. What are some meals that you suggest that we should have on our radar that are delicious and that can impress guests when they’re coming over to eat with us?

CHEF NW: So, I’m going to give you 2 great recipes here and then we’re going to talk about a lot more that we have. This first one is going to be focused on the Whole Grain Brown Rice which is in the Ready Rice packages. It’s really easy to do, you can put it in the microwave for 3 mins. Take a fresh apple and you’re going to slice and then dice it and incorporate it into some diced red peppers, parsley, green onions, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper. Once it’s incorporated, add some of the pre-cooked Ben’s Original Ready Rice right into the bowl. This is when you can get kids involved if you have them – you can let them mix and you can have them add ingredients. Maybe they want to see a little more green or red – let them be in charge because when you place this down on your dinner table, you want them to finish this. So you have your sweetness, you have a little bit of acidity, you have protein that’s in there. If you want to add chicken or seafood, you can do that and you can just keep taking this to the next level. But this here is your base!

Your next recipe is going to be Wild Rice. Now this Wild Rice is a favorite. I have been buying these pouches since they have been out there because it’s just so easy. So for this meatball, you don’t have to pre-cook the rice. You’re going to add this rice right into a bowl with ground beef and you’re going to add eggs, milk, salt and pepper and a little garlic. If you have some kids, get them involved again. Letting them mix and reshaping their meatballs. Pop them into a 350˚ oven and in about 12-13 mins, you have some really luscious meatballs that’s right there at your dinner table.

AM: Those are great recipes to add to your meals.

You’ve kind of been talking about this throughout – preparation is always key. What are some items that we should have in our pantries so even when we don’t know what’s going on, when we have these items, they are so versatile that we can create a meal.

can create a meal.

CHEF NW: The good thing about Ben’s Original’s mission is to really save - to save time. You definitely need to have these Ready Rice packages in there because you can get something where you can have Taco Night with Spanish – you can go all kinds of different ways. The Wild Rice is great to pair with a fish. So this here is a great vessel and then in your refrigerator, you really want peppers, onions, squash and eggplant. You want these things that can be in there and you’re already halfway there with a meal. And then you can look at a protein. So when you’re buying meats, have Ziplock bags in your house or a vacuum sealer just so that you can take that one protein and put it in a Ziplock bag, date it and put it right in your freezer. So when you pull out your ready rice and also your veggies, you can go ahead and sauté your veggies or make that salad, pair it up and you have a meal in minutes.

AM: That sounds great!

What are some seasonings that you suggest as 3 go-to’s that we should have in our pantry that we should think about having?

CHEF NW: I’m only going to talk about 1 seasoning!

AM: We expected that!

CHEF NW: I’m going to be very biased on that! This is Nick’s 26. It’s the first seasoning that has ever been incorporated with 26 spices. Think about turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, garlic, etc. It took me awhile to get the ratio down. But the only reason why this seasoning is invented because my grandmother told me that I needed to figure out how to put my personality in a bottle because people like the way that I cook and season food. You can now be your own chef in your own household with Nick’s 26.

AM: We love that!

You’ve been working with Ben’s Originals and like you, they’re also focused on childhood hunger that we’re super passionate about here at Athleisure Media. Can you tell us about initiatives that they are focused on and what they’re doing?

CHEF NW: I’m very delighted to partner with Ben’s Original for the second year now. It’s great! One of the things that Ben’s Original and No Kid Hungry is doing is that they are investing 2.5 million meals. All you have to do is to go into the grocery store and spend up to $1 – that’s all! Just think about if you spend just a few more extra dollars, you never know how far that can go. There’s a lot of kids out there that are in need. Our spirits are aligned because it’s just like my mission. Don’t ignore your community, as we grow – we all grow and that’s just the philosophy! We should all believe that and we need to get on the streets and just start walking and do what we do!

AM: We love to hear that. We love No Kid Hungry and we have worked with them since 2016 and so that is something that we love hearing! $1 impacting such a big thing is amazing!

As mentioned in the beginning, it was great to see you on Top Chef as a finalist and we’ve continued to watch you on Chopped as well. Do you have any other shows coming up that we should have an eye out for? Are you making a cookbook – what’s Nick up to?

CHEF NW: So I am writing a cookbook, it’s called Rooted. It’ll be out soon. It’s got some really really great fantastic recipes in there so it’s going to feature a lot of the different partnerships that I do and a lot of the things that my grandmother pretty much instilled in me. That’s the main thing! And then there’s Mississippi as a whole! I want to be able to put a spotlight – just like Ben’s Original is doing. I want the world to know about us, they need to know about us and I hope that by me going on Top Chef, shows what kind of sophistication that we’re bringing. We're coming hard and we’re believing in our community and we’re coming together as strong as 1!

I did do a show in Food Network Canada that you should probably check out. It’s called Fire Masters, it’s a good show. I started the show off with an old-school recipe from my grandfather. My grandfather passed when I was at a young age, but he showed me this and I’m glad that I had that trick to show to the world, but it’s called Fire Masters and check it out! Soon we have more things to come, but we’re probably going to be a little quiet about it but we have a lot of things in the making!

IG @nickwallaceculinary

PHOTO COURTESY | Nick Wallace