Celebrate Pumpkin Season with Healthy Dishes!

August 23, 2019
Linda Shiue, MD, Director of Culinary Medicine
Easy Meal Tips, Eat Well, Healthy Eating

What would fall be without pumpkins? From Halloween jack-o’-lanterns to Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, these gorgeous squash and their many relatives are now making their appearance in the markets.

But pumpkin isn’t just for these traditional dishes; it’s used throughout the world in delicious soups, stews and other savory dishes. And fall is the time to get creative with butternut, kabocha and other types of squash when they’re fresh and in season.

You can find out more at my October 9th Thrive Kitchen class: Everything Pumpkin – registration now open.

In this hands-on class, you’ll explore all kinds of different and delicious ways to cook with winter squash, making a menu that will include savory dishes such as appetizers, soups and entrees along with a delicious dessert.

Pumpkin and its squash cousins are rich in beta-carotene, the antioxidant that gives them their bright orange and yellow hues. Beta-carotene is a key nutrient supporting the immune system. The body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, which supports healthy skin, mucous membranes and other tissues.

For more information about Kaiser Permanente San Francisco’s healthy cooking program the Thrive Kitchen, email the Health Education department at SFHealthEd@kp.org or call 415-833-3450.

To learn more about my cooking and my Thrive Kitchen classes, visit my Facebook page, where I announce upcoming events. For more recipes and healthy cooking ideas, check out myblog, spiceboxtravels.com.

Thrive Kitchen will be continuing the fall holiday theme on November 7th with a class on how to prepare healthy and creative Thanksgiving side dishes.

Linda Shiue, MD, Director of Culinary Medicine

Linda Shiue, MD, is a primary care doctor and professionally trained chef who believes that the best medicine is prevention, based upon a healthy lifestyle. As Director of Culinary Medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, she is developing a teaching kitchen to empower patients with a new set of skills and knowledge to improve their health and wellness--nutrition applied through cooking skills. Classes are offered through the Health Education Department at (415) 833-3450. In addition to seeing patients, Dr. Shiue offers cooking demonstrations and hands-on workshops in which students learn to prepare seasonal produce lavishly flavored with spices and fresh herbs. Her food writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Remedy Quarterly, Salon, Culinate, and online editions of The New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine. She also has her own website, Spiceboxtravels.com.