--- title: "Ananda Johnson: How Embracing Plant-Based Cuisine And Radical Humility Transformed Her Culinary Leadership" url: "https://authoritymag.co/articles/ananda-johnson-how-embracing-plant-based-cuisine-and-radical-humility-transformed-her-culinary-l" publisher: "Authority Magazine" author: "Chef Vicky Colas" authorUrl: "https://authoritymag.co/authors/chef-vicky-colas" interviewee: "Ananda Johnson" company: "Dancing Spirit Ranch" category: "Wellness" datePublished: "2020-09-25T13:30:24.886Z" dateModified: "2026-11-12T17:09:16.778Z" tags: "Business" --- # Ananda Johnson: How Embracing Plant-Based Cuisine And Radical Humility Transformed Her Culinary Leadership *Executive Head Chef Ananda Johnson shares how over four decades of plant-based cooking, overcoming high-stress kitchen mistakes, and infusing joy into every meal can elevate both team culture and culinary success.* > Early on I was over-working, I was nitpicking and micromanaging my crew. I was too caffeinated. I was a monster. Hypercritical. Over-controlling. Someone threw in the towel and walked out with tears and emotion. --- As*part of our series about the lessons from influential ‘TasteMakers’, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ananda Johnson, Executive Head Chef at Dancing Spirit Ranch and has been leading the property’s decadent, thoughtful and fresh culinary creations since 2018. Chef Ananda Johnson does not have professional culinary training and considers life to be her training school, since she has been cooking and hosting gatherings since her early teens. She has always gravitated to the kitchen and uses her warm, inviting personality, as well as heart-felt desire to serve to bring people together over food.* *Chef Ananda Johnson has been nearly a lifelong Montana resident and a lifelong vegan. Her enthusiasm for plant-based cooking and locally-sourced, organic ingredients is evident in every dish she thoughtfully curates and cooks.* *Much of Ananda’s inspiration for her dishes marries her nearly life-long plant-based lifestyle with her love for locally sourced ingredients that she derives from her own personal garden and local farmer’s markets in the area. She believes the most important ingredient to put in food is love and joy in your heart and holds true to that with every meal she makes.* *As the lead chef for the ranch her responsibilities include planning, sourcing and preparing meals for guests from start to finish, as well as managing the kitchen staff support team. She is constantly researching recipes and finds creative ways to bring gourmet eating into outdoor activities and backcountry trips.* *Chef Ananda is directly involved in customizing the menus for each and every stay, be it for a family visit or for a yoga retreat. She loves customizing dishes to meet any and all dietary or lifestyle choices, from keto to gluten-free and everything in between; and looks forward to continuing to serve the community for years to come.* *Chef Ananda is a health and wellness enthusiast and lifelong yogi, who proudly hosts classes for the local community from time to time at the ranch.* --- **Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know’ you a bit. Can you share with our readers a story about what inspired you to become a restaurateur or chef?** I have the honor and privilege of being on staff and overseeing the operations of The Barn at Dancing Spirit Ranch, a retreat center in Montana. The Barn houses the kitchen, dining room, library, and lounge area with a beautiful fireplace. It’s my job to coordinate with our guests and retreat leaders to create menus that accommodate a full spectrum of dietary needs. I collaborate with my co-chef, Taylor and we create an atmosphere of “laid-back-luxury” with healthy home-style recipes, local foods, and colorful presentations. Our guests enjoy comfort, nourishment and satisfaction. This is my “retirement” job, my dream place to feed traveling souls. I’m enlivened in the kitchen. My sense of purpose comes to light. **Do you have a specific type of food that you focus on? What was it that first drew you to cooking that type of food? Can you share a story about that with us?** I personally follow a plant based diet and have for over 40 years, so I focus on the whole-foods-plant-based dishes. My co-chef, Taylor is an expert in animal foods. I was initially drawn to a plant based diet as part of my yoga practice and the principle of Ahimsa, non-harming. I also love the study of the energetics of food. In my early years I studied 5-element Chinese medicine principles and received a certification in nutritional science. My recipes are a confluence of all of these experiences. I look at how food affects the spirit as well as the body. **Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you became a chef or restauranteur? What was the lesson or take away you took out of that story?** Catering an off-grid wedding for 120 people over 4 days was so hard it was funny. No electricity, no running water, no refrigeration, no enclosures from the bears. It was an orchestration of my crew that included a megaphone to call-to-arms the immediate need to “COVER THE FOOD” from the approaching dust devils. The bride and groom insisted on wine cooked ribs that my husband took on in a massive vat. He cut off a broom handle for the stirring. I think we hauled in 500 pounds of ice. It was July so that didn’t last long. We made it a party under the starry Montana sky with Northern Lights and it was a blast! **Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? How did you overcome this obstacle?** Early on I was over-working, I was nitpicking and micromanaging my crew. I was too caffeinated. I was a monster. Hypercritical. Over-controlling. Someone threw in the towel and walked out with tears and emotion. She was talented and capable. She was a single mom. I suffered. I had regret and self-loathing for my behavior. It was a process of resurrection and renewal. It was a hard lesson in humility. Chefs are often characterized as edgy and volatile, egotistical and demanding. I learned early on that creating a dream team atmosphere with high-vibes of collaboration and edification will result in much less stress and much more joy. The food will reflect this. **In your experience, what is the key to creating a dish that customers are crazy about?** UMAMI. Delicious pleasant savory taste. Sweets need umami too. Umami is beyond the sweet, sour, salty, and bitter taste buds. It’s the grounding element that triggers all the places in the brain that spell “satisfaction.” It’s tricky and elusive at times. It’s a balance of salt, fat, heat, and sweet. I have a tool box of ingredients that I go to when I am in search of what a dish needs to arrive at umami. Herbamare Seasoning Salt, Ume Vinegar, Namu Shoyu, Hawaiian Black Salt, Botija Sundried Olives, Nutritional Yeast, and lemon juice are some examples. There is the ethereal element too, of love and joy that must be present in all that is served. Guests have said many times they taste the love. That’s the full circle. That’s the spice of life. **Personally, what is the ‘perfect meal for you’?** Kale Quinoa Salad. Ok, I know, most people aren’t crazy about kale. But it’s in the process. In the massaging of the kale. This is my go-to for sustained satisfaction and energy. I believe it is what makes my muscles long and lean. It satisfies me for hours. I rely on greens to keep my weight consistent, which by-the-way has been about 117 for most of my 63 years. Quinoa is a complete protein. The lemon dressing gives the perfect umami. Celery and red onion are key crunch ingredients. I’m known for my kale addiction. **Where does your inspiration for creating come from? Is there something that you turn to for a daily creativity boost?** The first Sunday of every month I commit to a gathering with my girlfriends. We have food themes and we laugh a lot. Our themes of late have included pitting cherries and making Clafoutis; pounding sauerkraut; matching our frazzled worlds with the making of zucchini fritters; and testing the electric Cuisinart tortilla maker with new recipes of cassava flour and psyllium husks. This sort of gathering feeds the soul and creates life affirming memories. In this period of COVID, find your tribe and commit to feeding one another. **Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? What impact do you think this will have?** We have an insanely cool and huge garden going in at the ranch. We are creating a space to literally serve farm-to-table right in the garden. From the drone shot above, the raised beds look like a crop circle, or sacred geometry. We are in the process of planning a colorful mandala. This year we will start with fall crops of garlic, strawberries, raspberries and perennials that will grow under the earth and greet us in the spring when the snow melts. What’s the impact? Dude, we have only 60 years of usable topsoil on the planet! Our pollinators are going extinct! Do you get what that means? FOOD GROWING is where it’s at. Our elaborate composting and soil augmentation is state of the art and we are organic. I can hardly contain my excitement for this. This is the next dimension of chef-hood. To harvest and present. To listen to the plants. To mimic the plants. To take in the vitality and beauty of the plants. Straight up. Plants are our umbilical cord to the Sun, the giver of all life on this planet. **What advice would you give to other chefs or restaurateurs to thrive and avoid burnout?** Get your ego out of it. Find another chef to edify. Give what you want to receive. This is a universal law. And remember, there is no such thing as an original recipe. Everything is a collaboration with the collective mind. We build on what has been done before. The attitude of SERVICE is the sweet spot of being. Feeding someone is an act of service. When you get in this mode, the flow of energy is abundant and consistent. There are the pragmatic practices too — hydration, rest, nature walks, being creative. Be a master of your life. Love your work. **Thank you for all that. Now we are ready for the main question of the interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started as a Restauranteur or Chef” and why? Please share a story or an example for each.** **1**. Mise en place. Everything in its place. 2. Let your doing be your workout. Let your reaches be your stretches. Let your lifting be your ab work. 3. Talk to the plants. They offer themselves freely and give you a bundle of seeds to carry on. 4. Chant and invoke the other worlds around you. Open to the gifts of the divine unfolding. Food is energy. 5. Meet your guests with presence and eye-contact. Learn their names. If you forget for a moment, call them love, dear, honey, sweetness….that’s the Southern way. **What’s the one dish people have to try if they visit your establishment?** Garden Lasagna. Guests always want the recipe. They can’t wait to try it on their kids. We serve it for the arrival dinner. It’s gluten and dairy free. Filling but not heavy. Intriguing color and texture, softness and creaminess. It’s a great way to start a week-long retreat and convey to our guests that they will be well fed. It has layers of butternut squash, eggplant, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and artichoke hearts between lentil brown rice noodles and house sauces and vegan cheese. We serve it with our house made vegan Caesar salad, and our local Uptown bakery sourdough chard and black olive bruschetta. **You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.** Ok are you ready? This has been a *bee in my bonnet* for a while and I know I am destined. I see myself orchestrating a fleet of food trucks. Trucks that are tricked-out with solar panels, and WiFi, and Berkey filters, and anything else that can take them off grid if necessary. They are linked into a network of CSA farmers to service food processing at harvest times so food is not wasted but canned, dried, fermented, juiced, or any other new way of preserving and storing food. This matrix of farm connections is key to the plan. These trucks will service firefighters, backwoods yogis, festivals, movie production sets, weddings, family reunions, the elderly, the children during the summer, the homeless, the Red Cross. They will be classrooms for teaching. Recipes will be developed based on resources. It’s a renaissance. It’s a celebration. It’s a new way to connect food to people and places. “We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.” Joni Mitchell, Woodstock **Thank you so much for these insights. This was very inspirational!** --- Source: https://authoritymag.co/articles/ananda-johnson-how-embracing-plant-based-cuisine-and-radical-humility-transformed-her-culinary-l (Authority Magazine, Wellness). Interviewee answers are first-person statements of the guest. Index of all pages: https://authoritymag.co/llms.txt