Joanne Lee Molinaro

BOV CONTRIBUTOR | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Joanne has been writing since she was in junior high and her writing appears in the following publications: Side B Magazine, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, and The Mashup Americans. Her recipes have been featured in Thrive Magazine and in 2017, she appeared on the hit Food Network show “Cooks vs. Cons” as the only female and vegan contestant. She has also given cooking demonstrations, participated in fundraising events for North Korean refugees, and was the keynote guest speaker for the Korean Women’s International Network 2018 Conference. She is the James Beard Award winning and NY Times bestselling author of The Korean Vegan Cookbook and is currently working on her second book as well.

Joanne adopted a plant-based diet in January 2016 and began The Korean Vegan as a passion project later that year. Since then, her recipes have been featured in numerous publications and in 2017, she appeared on the hit Food Network show “Cooks vs. Cons” as the only female and vegan contestant. She has also given cooking demonstrations, participated in fundraising events for North Korean refugees, and been invited to be the keynote guest speaker for the Korean Women’s International Network 2018 Conference. 

Joanne is also an avid runner and self-described “fitness freak.” She ran her first marathon in 2017 and plans on running two more in 2018. 

Joanne is the daughter of two Korean immigrants. Her parents both escaped the clutches of North Korea when they were infants and immigrated to the United States when they were in their 20s. They raised Joanne to study hard, avoid cigarettes, and get a good job. Throughout much of her childhood, Joanne lived with one of her grandmothers, who taught her how to speak (Joanne’s first language was Korean), tie her shoes, and climb the crabapple tree in their front yard.