We are bringing nutrition education into the kitchen through culinary medicine-a blend of culinary techniques and nutrition science that makes food delicious and cooking accessible. Dive into a collection of tasty recipes and practical resources designed to help you personalize the cooking experience. Our adaptable recipe frameworks democratize traditional recipes, celebrating personal food choices and encouraging readers to use ingredients they love or already have on hand. Whether you are a healthcare professional seeking culinary medicine content or simply looking for delicious recipes to elevate your home cooking, this book serves as a complete guide to inspire creativity, build confidence, and help mix things up in the kitchen.
Culinary medicine blends the art of cooking with the science of nutrition to improve health. While the term is relatively new, using food for healing is deeply rooted in cultures around the world. At its core, culinary medicine offers a food-first approach to transforming nutrition advice into practical, repeatable skills through hands-on learning.
Think of it like learning to ride a bike-you don't master it from a handout or social media posts alone. Instead, you practice, build confidence, and eventually, it becomes second nature. The same goes for nutrition. And the key to consistent practice? Deliciousness! If your food tastes great and is simple to make, then you will want to make it again.
This book doesn't teach strict rules-instead, it promotes flexibility and creativity. With 75 adaptable recipe frameworks, you can create thousands of variations based on your preferences and ingredients already on hand. One framework for a stir-fry recipe alone can yield more than 40,000 combinations! Use this book to enhance your own culinary skills and dietary pattern or as a textbook to teach culinary medicine to diverse populations spanning from community members to medical students.
To help you mix things up in the kitchen, this book offers:
- 75 recipe frameworks adaptable to your pantry
- 50+ skill videos to improve culinary skills and enhance flavor and nutritional value
- Nutrition and culinary tips to create a learning experience out of every recipe
- A 10+-page substitution guide to expand ingredient options and maximize utility of the recipe frameworks
- A growing repository of free, printable teaching handouts and other resources to help you further learn and share your knowledge
Badaracco, Christina: - Christina Badaracco, MPH, RDN, LDN, works as a healthcare consultant, author, and thought leader, seeking to advance the role of nutrition in healthcare. She applies her expertise in healthcare and public health research, policy, and practice to support leading institutions and organizations across the world to improve care delivery and health outcomes. She also regularly writes, teaches, and develops trainings and programs about nutrition, culinary medicine, and sustainable agriculture-including designing and directing award-winning and innovative culinary medicine trainings and programs for various healthcare institutions and professional associations and coauthoring The Farm Bill: A Citizen's Guide. Christina previously worked for Avalere, a healthcare advisory firm, as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, Oakland Unified School District, and NIH Clinical Center. Christina holds various leadership roles within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Slow Food and she is actively engaged in her local food and healthcare systems.
Thomas, Olivia: - Olivia Thomas, MS, RDN, LDN, is the Director of Nutrition Innovation and Implementation at Boston Medical Center, where she leads efforts to integrate food-based interventions into clinical care and develop community-driven, culturally affirming programs to prevent and manage diet-related chronic diseases. Olivia pioneered nutrition-focused training for healthcare professionals by co-founding Boston University's culinary medicine program. Additionally, she leads hands-on workshops nationwide and consults with institutions like Columbia University, Penn State University, and the Obesity Medicine Association, designing and implementing culinary medicine programs tailored to diverse audiences, including students, healthcare providers, and community members. Olivia is a PhD student at Australian Catholic University, where her research focuses on sports nutrition and supporting high-performing athletes through culinary medicine.
