Gina’s Organic Kitchen turns former SWAT ambulance into food truck

No excuses anymore: Real food is rolling around town.

Gina's is on wheels. Hunt her down at ginasok.com.

DALLAS — New Year’s resolutions are just around the corner, but why wait? A new food truck fashioned out of an old SWAT ambulance will "rescue" unhealthy eaters by offering them something fresh and healthful. It rolled out in the Dallas area last month.

Owner Gina Paterno Villalobos is serious about good food. Nine years ago, she was diagnosed with high-risk breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy treatments. She discovered that organic, whole foods could help detoxify her body of the harsh chemicals and help rebuild her immune system. It was a lifestyle revolution that prompted a dedication to educating others about healthier living and cooking. Stacked with credentials, Villalobos trained at the top macrobiotic center in U.S. – the Kushi Institute Center for Natural Healing – to become a macrobiotic instructor, and she became certified in Food Therapy from the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food & Health and certified in Plant-Based Nutrition at Cornell University.

Villalobos and I instantly clicked over issues of healthy eating. Myself, I lost more than 40 pounds in six months by eating real food, the kind that comes from the Earth. I had previously tried virtually every fad diet, even the scariest, and have spent most of my life battling to maintain a healthy weight. I've always been a runner, but exercise alone is only one part of the healthy lifestyle equation.

Eating used to be scary. Now, it’s how I live – a motto that Villalobos very much employs herself.

Villalobos focuses on macrobiotics, a way of preparing food emphasizing the purity of organics, and based on Taoist principles of yin and yang. She established Gina’s Organic Kitchen on Plano Road, a commissary where guests can pick up meals and which will include a dine-in section in early 2013.

Most recently, she acquired her new food truck, slated to will deliver whole, healthy meals throughout Uptown, the Park Cities, and Preston Hollow. Gina’s Health Rescue Unit does lunch drop-offs, catering, and truck rentals for private events, and serves dishes like miso glazed wild salmon; kale cranberry pumpkin seed salad; springy sweet pea soup; and desserts like a pecan date blueberry tart.

Meals range from $4.95 to $25 and up, and you can find the Rescue Unit around town via its schedule, posted online at ginasok.com. Dallasites officially have even fewer excuses to wait until next year to turn over new leaves, or to fret when we occasionally fall off the wagon: Real health food is rolling around town.