Spring Vegetables: Cooking Tips and Ideas

March 29, 2019
Linda Shiue, MD, Director of Culinary Medicine
Easy Meal Tips, Eat Well, Healthy Eating

Local farmers markets are bursting with early spring vegetables like peas and asparagus. But what if you don’t know what to do with them?

I’m a chef, physician, and director of culinary medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, and I want everyone to learn creative cooking techniques that make it easy to whip up a delicious main dish or side with spring vegetables in the starring role. In my next Thrive Kitchen class at Kaiser Permanente Mission Bay, we’ll discuss the nutritional benefits of spring vegetables, then make a meal and eat it together.

Thrive Kitchen classes take place the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 1600 Owens St., 6th floor. A different menu is offered each month. Registration opens one month before each class; to register, contact the Health Education Department at (415) 833-3450 or email SFhealthed@kp.org. Classes are limited to 12 participants and fill up quickly but there is a wait list. The cost is $30 for Kaiser Permanente members and $40 for non-members.

The next class is Healthy Asian Cooking on May 8th, and registration is now open for that class as well.

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.