Our Visionary Chef Series continues with our friend Linda Shiue, MD. She is an internal medicine physician, chef, and the first Director of Culinary Medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, where she founded Thrive Kitchen, a teaching kitchen for patients.

Her award-winning, debut cookbook Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes highlights her flavor-first approach to healthy cooking, which makes the most of vibrant produce, flavor-packed spices, and fresh herbs. (Visit our website for her recipes that feature Hodo like Kung Pao Tofu and Summer Peach "Burrata" Caprese with Harissa!)

Read on to learn how Dr. Shiue unlocks the secrets of global cooking and inspires her patients to lead healthier lives by cooking irresistible plant-centered meals.

Share about your journey as a medical physician and utilizing cooking and food as a tool for prevention and empowering patients? 

After a decade as a practicing internist, I went to a continuing medical education course that combined nutrition and culinary instruction, and realized that it had to be my path forward. It was my lightbulb moment where I realized that without empowering patients to improve how they were eating, I would never be able to help them to achieve their optimal health and wellness.

Tell us the story of starting the Thrive Kitchen at Kaiser Permanente. What are the goals of the program and what accomplishments are you most proud of? 

After that continuing medical education course, I taught my first cooking class to patients less than a week later, and was hooked. I then spent the next three years teaching in various community settings, from community centers, public libraries, an adult night school and community cooking schools. It gave me great experience in teaching people of all levels of experience how to cook, public speaking (which used to scare me!), and writing recipes. 

I moved my practice over to Kaiser Permanente for the simple reason that I knew they emphasized prevention and had the first farmers markets at medical centers in the country. I thought, OK, patients can get produce there, but do they know what to do with it? I pitched my idea to build a formal cooking program for patients,  and Thrive Kitchen was born. 

The goals of Thrive Kitchen are to get patients to improve their health by cooking more at home, especially vegetables, and to enjoy food from many different cultures. One of the main messages I try to get across is that there is no one healthy diet-- all cultures have healthy dishes. 

I am proud that the program, which started as a pilot, is now in its seventh year, and that I was successfully able to pivot to virtual classes during the pandemic, which now allows many more people to take classes.

What was your inspiration for writing your first cookbook, Spicebox Kitchen? 

Like all authors and recipe developers, I wrote my cookbook because I had a book in me that had to come to life! Aside from that creative drive, I wanted to share my healthy cooking ideas and recipes with many more people than can take my cooking classes. 

Spicebox Kitchen features the lessons I teach in Thrive Kitchen, and spice-filled recipes from four different geographic regions that I have a personal relationship to and also a tradition of healthy diets.

Most people can agree that eating vegetables and plant-based foods is an important part of living a healthy life. Some common barriers and/or perceptions are that it's too expensive, they don’t think it tastes good, or simply don’t know how to cook. Any advice you can offer for overcoming these? 

I really believe that eating healthy food is less expensive-- and that plant-based foods really can be less expensive than animal-based foods. There are so many ways to make eating vegetables inexpensive, from buying in season at farmers markets, buying frozen produce, and reducing food waste by learning how to meal plan and to pickle. 

As for the idea that healthy food doesn't taste good, that is my whole raison d'etre for teaching cooking classes-- as I like to say, tasting is believing! My trick is to teach people different techniques and maybe 5 different recipes to use as templates, then to add variety by learning how to use different spices.

What is your favorite Hodo dish ? What’s your go-to tofu recipe at home? If people are new to tofu, what do you recommend they first make?

I think I need to say my favorite Hodo dishes are some I've shared on the Hodo blog! These are both based upon recipes from Spicebox Kitchen-- Kung Pao Tofu and Summer Peach "Burrata" Caprese with Harissa, using Hodo yuba.

I love the pre-seasoned tofu nuggets from Hodo because all you need to do is crisp them in a pan and in a few minutes, your protein is done! My favorite flavor is the Five Spice Nuggets. I eat those with steamed rice and some stir-fried greens, and dinner is ready in minutes!

I enjoy tofu in many recipes at home, but I think the one I eat most often is pan-fried tofu with a spice soy-based dipping sauce. It's simple, flavorful and really satisfying. 

For people new to enjoying tofu, I always teach them to think of it as any other protein they usually enjoy, and to just swap it in-- for example in tacos, stir-fries, or sandwiches. 

Stay up to date with the latest from Dr. Shiue by following her @spiceboxtravels.