In this Q&A, we welcome our newest doctor, Dr. Colin Zhu, to the team! Our Plant-based Telehealth doctors discuss whether air frying is healthy, tips for spicing-up a bland meal, and much more!
Questions Answered
- (00:13) – Introducing Dr. Colin Zhu.
- (08:47) – What are some of the recipes that you found to help people transition to a whole food, plant-based diet?
- (11:05) – Any suggestions for an oil-free tortilla substitute?
- (16:10) – Do you have any recommendations for cookware?
- (16:50) – Do you have any appliances you feel like most people should invest in?
- (25:15) – I am using frozen meals prepared ahead of time. What is your opinion on using a microwave to thaw meals on busy evenings?
- (26:17) – What are some of your favorite herbs and spices people can use to liven-up a bland meal?
- (30:19) – What do you think about air fryers?
- (33:28) – Dr. Zhu, tell us where people can find out more about you.
Complete Transcript
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(00:04)
Today, we're going to highlight one of our most amazing doctors, Dr. Colin Zhu. How are you today?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(00:09)
I'm well, we're all amazing here.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(00:13)
Yeah. So today you're the spotlight, the amazing spotlight. So tell us a little bit about yourself for those who aren't familiar with you and what we're going to be talking about today.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(00:26)
Yeah. So, hi everyone. I'm Dr. Colin Zhu. I am boarded in family and lifestyle medicine. I'm originally from New Jersey, based in Los Angeles right now. For those that want to know where I practice, I practice in California, Washington, Texas, Connecticut, Florida, and soon to be New Jersey. And I'm very grateful and humbled to be here and with this amazing team of physicians.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(01:04)
Okay, perfect. So now tell us a little bit about what is culinary medicine and how you kind of came into medicine and culinary medicine and bringing these two amazing worlds together.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(01:15)
Yeah, definitely. So culinary medicine is basically blending nutritional science with the arts of the culinary arts. And you're using the mesh of the both of them and intertwining them to be able apply, not just in terms of cooking practice, but also eating in a helpful manner for our body and health. I think one of the originators was Dr. John La Puma, was probably the earliest individual that I came across. And nowadays it's definitely blossomed into many different forms, there's schools, there's online programs, there's certifications, and it's definitely applied in many different ways. How I came about it was, I kind of went into school thinking I was going to blend Eastern and Western philosophies. I have a Chinese medical doctor as my mom and I didn't come from a long line of [NDs 00:02:17]. So she taught me prevention, holistic health, looking at the person in a very holistic manner.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(02:23)
So I went into school thinking I was going to do that. And, to my surprise ended up, didn't going in that route. Probably similarly, like my fellow colleagues here, realized that most of my predecessors and mentors that I followed, there was some sort of chronic lifestyle related component or risk factor that was involved in patient care in some way, shape or form. And then during school, I just realized I was just kind of eloquent. And I said to myself, “What can I do?” For those of you don't know, in schools, at least in my school experience, it was really heavy in terms of how drugs worked and how disease came about and manifested. And so I said to myself, “I need to take a lot of detours.” And so I did, I kind of say to people now that if school or training really trained us, probably wouldn't have gone in the circuitous route that we have, and probably Plant Based TeleHealth wouldn't have manifested.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(03:26)
So after that I went to culinary school, got certified in health coaching, traveled a bit personally and professionally, and I kind of blended all those experiences together, before COVID, to publicly speak, demo, workshop. And my main audience is actually teaching other physicians, especially primary care physicians. And I enjoy that very much because I believe that primary care physicians are the role models, the community leaders. We set the example and I really am a huge advocate of practicing what you preach. And so I kind of teach from that model and I hope to be able to apply that for y'all here. And if I get the chance to work with you one-on-one, it'll be my privilege.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(04:16)
Fantastic. Do you guys have any questions for Colin before we get- And by the way, guys, you can feel free to ask questions in the Q and A box if you're in the webinar, if you're on Facebook, you'll need to go to the Plant Based TeleHealth Facebook page. And that's where I'll see the questions, I'm monitoring there. I don't have access to the other groups and all the questions. So you'll definitely need to migrate over to the Facebook, Plant Based TeleHealth Facebook page. So any other questions from any of our esteemed colleagues?
Dr. Kim Scheuer
(04:45)
I have a statement. If you are a healthcare provider in any way and get to go to any of the international Plant Based medicine conferences and get to go to one of Dr. Zhu's workshops, it is worth it. Well worth it so go learn from him.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(05:06)
Awesome.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(05:06)
Thank you. Appreciate it. Appreciate it, Dr. Kim.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(05:11)
So tell us a little bit, how do we start? So if you're taking on someone new and you're beginning to work with them, are there new foundational principles or guidelines you give and how do you advance from there?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(05:21)
Definitely. So as a family practitioner, we pretty much run the whole gamut from when they're born, all the way to advancing age and into their wiser ages, and we follow everyone in between. And in terms of diet/nutritional/ food-related counseling and coaching, I meet everyone from an extreme carnivore to extreme vegan and everyone in between. And I meet people where they're at and usually the first couple of questions is, “Doc, I either don't know how to eat or don't know how to cook.” And I teach in very simplistic methods and I tell them, “What do you have going on? Are you by yourself? Are you with others? Are you with a significant other? What is your kitchen like? What is your environment like? What kind of tools do you have?”
Dr. Colin Zhu
(06:22)
And then depending on what they say on, I just start from there. I figure out how much cooking ability they have, how much they order in how, much they do takeout, how busy their lives are. As Americans, we're busy. Sometimes just busy, sometimes actually productive. But our schedule is very, very full. And so one of the other common questions I get is, “I don't have enough time.” So I figure out what am I working with? What is their schedule like? How much help or lack thereof they have and how much they're willing to contribute, not only for themselves, but also they're supporting members of the family, whether they have a significant other or family member and how much they can help out.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(07:09)
Because I think cooking, number one, starts in the kitchen, taking back your health starts in the kitchen. And it's also a getting back to a love affair of food and what goes into your mouth. Food and nutrition's not just components that we eat and just goes into your body, assimilates, and then supports it. It's also a love affair of culture and history and traditional experiences and memories. And food, to me, is kind of like, and I'm sure everyone can concur that food, like music and arts, it's very universal. It speaks every language. I try my best to make it in a way where it speaks to people and it's not just a vitamin or a mineral or macro and micronutrients. It's just re-instilling that for people. And so I figure out where their baseline is, what we're working with, and then I just kind of build upon it from there. And I just kind of add steps and tools and recommendations for it.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(08:16)
Awesome. Anybody else have other questions? I can keep going? All right. So you're meeting them where they're at, just like we do as doctors with patients, I guess this is. And so that is one of the things we get a lot of people talk about like, “I don't want to give this up. I don't want to give up.” So when you're talking to someone about transitioning to whole food, plant-based diet, what are some of the recipes that you found to be pretty generally accepted and make it easy? So what were some of the things that we can have a win-win with most of our patients, would you say?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(08:48)
Yeah, that's a good question. So most people's perceptions of vegan/vegetarian/whole food plants base food is basically a salad or steamed broccoli, or some form of rabbit food. And so I tell them that if you… One of the best tools is the internet, for better or worse. And you could either come to my site, Plant Based TeleHealth sites, there's a lot of great resources, and look at what people are making. What I find, in terms of ethnic cooking is Mexican food. Not your typical Mexican food, but Mexican food does really well at vegetarian [fair 00:13:46], Indian food does very well at vegetarian fair, most Asian cultures does very well in vegetarian fair. And you look at different cultures and how they do with more plant food, and you look at their recipes. You figure out how it works in your kitchen, given the herbs and spices you have, the tools you have, the pots and pans and the appliances you have. And just kind of work with it.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(10:00)
And then I give people a couple recipes from my office. Usually, start simple. Let's start with a gumbo or a soup. Let's start with a simple sauté dish. Or if they don't want to use their hands in cooking, let's try out an appliance. Let's blend something, let's make a smoothie. I like using slow cooker, throw everything into the pot, and set it and forget it. I work with wherever they're at and my approach is, it's progress over perfection. It's all about experimenting. It doesn't have to be an overnight thing. And I think if we can remove people's expectations and certain perceptions around food and how challenging, or difficult that is for people, the better there is. Because I want people to enjoy what they're making, what they're making for others and what they're putting, ultimately, into their bodies.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(11:02)
Very good.
Dr. Niki Davis
(11:02)
I've got a question.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(11:04)
Yes.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(11:04)
Please, Niki.
Dr. Niki Davis
(11:05)
So our family loves Mexican food, and I know that the doctors here, and I think the whole food, plant based community is supporting oil free or low oil. And one of the things that we've had issues with is finding good tortillas that don't have oil. You can find corn tortillas, but having a wheat tortilla, something like that, is just almost impossible to find and that. So I have heard a lot of people saying, “What do you use instead?” And I'm just wondering if you've had any experience with trying something else that would work for making a burrito, or if you have any other suggestions.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(11:52)
How much oil do you find with the tortilla, or are you referring to using added oil in creating tortilla or like a burrito or something like that?
Dr. Niki Davis
(12:06)
Yeah. So the store bought tortillas usually have oil in them. And so for people who are trying to not have any oil in their diet at all, that's just- And I don't think it's a lot, but it is still added oil.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(12:22)
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. I've never actually created a tortilla from scratch. I've actually looked at this before. I would go to a supermarket, so I'm in California so we have a lot of Ralphs over here. So it's kind of like the equivalent of maybe in Florida, like a Publix or something like that. It's not quite a whole foods, but it's your normal supermarket. We have a huge Mexican population so on the end caps, it's from the ceiling to the bottom of like… On tortillas. And there's other tortillas where they've tried making it from… Like, they have spinach tortillas, they do have corn tortillas, they have different versions of wheat tortillas. I haven't quite checked in terms of how much oil it is, per se. So I probably would have to get back to you on that.
Dr. Niki Davis
(13:30)
You know, it would be fun. We should do a little cooking demonstration where you figure out how to make a homemade tortilla. And we can do that. [crosstalk 00:13:40].
Dr. Colin Zhu
(13:39)
The challenge is in terms of the baking process with vegan, or plant-based fair is the binding, because egg is kind of like a universal, versatile ingredient. Cooking-wise, it's awesome. Health-wise, it's not so awesome. So the challenge is using it. And we have combinations of using the blend of chia seeds and water, and grounded flax seed and water. There's other approaches as well.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(14:08)
Some people have mentioned here and I've Googled this, actually last night I had a patient who has a Mexican preference of food, and we looked up oil-free recipes. There's some that you can make out of sweet potatoes and stuff. But anyway, some other folks were mentioning… Deborah mentions, “I make my own wrappers along the lines of traditional East Indian dosa made from rice and dal or split legumes. Someone else said they got them from Kroger's. And I think that was everyone, what anyone said. But yeah, just some [inaudible 00:14:44], some ideas.
Dr. Niki Davis
(14:45)
Great.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(14:45)
Yeah. In terms of the oil, I wouldn't see why you would use the oil to create it, let's just say if you make it from scratch. I've seen the couple of my colleagues make dosa from scratch and you would just need- there's actually a specific flat sheet that you use to make dosa. And they use oil traditionally how we would use oil just for the cooking process. So if you learn to just quickly use either a saucepan or the flat sheet really quickly, learn how to brown really quickly, you wouldn't necessarily need to use oil. So I'd probably say the safest would be making it on your own so that way you're not putting the oil in as opposed to outsourcing it to companies and relying on them to having that.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(15:38)
Yeah. Ezekiel has some tortillas, they're just not very pliable. They are [crosstalk 00:15:45]
Dr. Colin Zhu
(15:44)
Yeah. Ezekiel is great, love their sprouted-ness and the fact that you have to house them in freezers. Yeah. They're not very… Yeah.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(15:55)
Definitely not pliable.
Dr. Chris Miller
(15:58)
Claire [Pierce 00:15:59] says, “Corn tortillas don't use oils. Homemade ones are delicious and pliable.”
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(16:04)
Claire, come on over and make us some [crosstalk 00:16:06]
Dr. Chris Miller
(16:05)
Yeah, I know. Claire needs to show us how to make her corn tortillas.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(16:10)
And someone had mentioned a good nonstick pan. Do you have any recommendations for cookware, any particular brands?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(16:18)
I don't have any particular brands. I like using ceramic. I'm not a big fan of Teflon because of the PFAOs, but I like using ceramic brands or just like the type of it. And they come on non-stick, as well.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(16:38)
[inaudible 00:16:38] is a good one that I've used. And I got my daughter some, a whole set, so those are really nice. Cool. And then so [crosstalk 00:16:45].
Dr. Chris Miller
(16:45)
Yeah, we use Scanpan at our house.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(16:46)
[crosstalk 00:16:46] Scanpan, yeah.
Dr. Chris Miller
(16:48)
Scanpan, we like those.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(16:49)
Yeah.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(16:49)
Cool.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(16:50)
Great brand.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(16:50)
Oh, someone else just mentioned, “I love Scanpan.” There you go. Scanpan it is. Very good. And then as far as what else. So since we are on appliances, do you have any appliances you feel like most people would do very well to invest money in?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(17:07)
It depends on what that individual wants the appliance for. So the appliance, I see it as appliance. I see every tool as something that is helping you out in the kitchen. So if you could think of them as, if you are a bachelor or bachelorette or single in an apartment or household, and you don't have a family member or significant other helping you out, you can probably get your pet to help you out, but that's a different question. But you can think of an appliance that is like another person there to help you out. So a high powered blender, a slow cooker, a food processor, and you have an Instant Pot. For those of you that know Chef AJ, she loves raving about the Instant Pot. And these are great devices now, to be able to kind of help out. Especially the all-in-ones one. To be able to help out.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(18:03)
So I would definitely recommend a high power blender for sauces, for making vinegarettes, for making smoothies, for making soups and things like that. I'm a big fan of slow cookers because all the nutrition is in the pot. It's not strained, it's not boiled and then you're discarding water. Everything is in the pot, you set it and forget it. It's a slow cook, it's not super high heat so you're not killing off things. A food processor, if you're into baking. I'm not a huge baker so food processor is good. I make a lot of dumplings and wantons and pestos and things like that. So I use the food processor and what's the difference between a food processor and a blender? Is a blender is more vertical and is very high powered, and it just crushes and grinds things really quickly. A food processor is something that is more lower impact. And it has a wider surface area, and it's not as high powered. So you're not mixing or grinding something or blending something to shreds, essentially. What was the other thing? An Instant Pot. An Instant Pot's pretty good, too.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(19:23)
You just have to get over the scary steam and…
Dr. Niki Davis
(19:26)
Yeah.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(19:26)
Oh yeah. The pressure cooker and stuff like that?
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(19:29)
Yes.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(19:30)
Yeah. No, you'll be fine. You'll be fine. [crosstalk 00:19:34]
Dr. Chris Miller
(19:33)
Scarier than they used to be. When they were just pressure cookers, they were pretty scary, though. [crosstalk 00:19:37].
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(19:36)
My grandmother was burnt with a pressure cooker when I was a kid and that memory is [crosstalk 00:19:42] very traumatic. So it took me a long time to get an Instant Pot. And then I gave it to my daughter, then I got another one. And it still [inaudible 00:19:50]. It was a childhood traumas. So there was another- someone mentioned, Debbie, which is kind of interesting. She said, “I agree. Tortillas are very difficult to get. I make my own steamed jam mashed with homemade oat flour or quinoa and water, add seasoning if you like. I put parchment paper lined in a stainless steel pan and it works amazing. And they're both pretty yummy. You can make them thin for wraps or into naan bread.”
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(20:14)
I also make quinoa bread, it's just quinoa, water and a little baking powder and I put seasoning in it. It's pretty yummy, pretty easy to do. Yeah. So cool. And then, so what other advice should you give to us? So we talked about what we need in the kitchen and then some of the other questions that I get a lot of feedback about is time, and then the social pressures of family not willing to help. Any suggestions around those things?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(20:41)
So time would be definitely meal prep. So in terms of cooking process, cooking is actually the shortest amount of time. It's actually the meal preparation. So planning out your week. So if you're a busy individual… So I'll give you an example. I don't have a family, but if I were cooking for myself, I would meal prep everything on a Sunday. I eat twice a day so I would meal prep two, three different meals on Sunday. And what you're doing is, essentially, your batch cooking. So what you do is that you're making more than one meal, and you get to alternate. You Tupperware them or put them in Pyrex, freeze them, things like that. And then you just grab throughout the week. Sometimes, every other day I would probably cook something different just to break up and increase variety.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(21:38)
But what you essentially do is you're doing batch cooking. So whether you're cooking for yourself or you're cooking for a family, it's always a good idea to make more than one portion to save up on time. In terms of time, it's also when you're looking at the fridge, the freezer and your pantry. A good idea would be like, during the pandemic, because we're more sequestered, would be stocking up on frozen foods, for example. Frozen foods are mostly picked at peak, nutritionally speaking, in terms of ripeness. And then you just basically thaw it, based off of whatever it is and then you cook with it. Not the best in terms of like, as if you're buying fresh produce. But it is very, very good, as well, and it keeps longer.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(22:36)
I teach people that real food is perishable, real food has an expiration date, real food doesn't actually have a nutritional label. Your best bet, if you have no clue, is to just hang out in the produce aisle and just stay there, try not to go anywhere else. So stocking up on your frozen foods. And pantries, stock up on your dry goods, if you have a supermarket that has bulk items or a bulk aisle, stock up on that. The reason why? It's because cost-wise, it's cheaper. If you can bulk up on beans and legumes, your whole grains, trying different varieties of whole grains, if you have to get canned foods and it lasts longer for you then go ahead. And it'll be cheaper.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(23:27)
When you're in a supermarket, pay attention to how it's packaged, whether it's prepped in advance. When you go to a produce aisle, you have your produce and then you have ready made prep. A lot of supermarkets do this now. They prep it ahead of time. So you see cut up veggies, cut up fruits. You probably see that and you're like, “Oh, this is super convenient. I love it.” But you're also paying for labor as opposed to cutting it yourself. I would be like, “Hmm, why don't you increase your knife skills and cut it up yourself. And then it'll be fun. You do it with someone else.” And then you save for that. But for people to save on time, because your was question time, you can go for that as well.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(24:08)
Bulk items for the pantry, and herbs and spices. To save on costs as well is go to ethic markets, go to a Mexican supermarket, we got plenty of those over here. Go to an Indian market, herbs and spices are really, really cheap. Go to an Asian market, really, really cheap. So buy ginger at an Asian market, because it's way cheaper over there. Things like that. If you're part of a wholesale store, like a Costco or BJ's or Sam's Club, or… Can't think of any other chains, but that works as well.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(24:48)
Perfect. I love it. And Clara, who's in Mexico, is sharing her recipe, it's pretty simple, for the flat bread. One cup of flour, half a cup of vegan yogurt, one teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Wait a bit, make balls flat and cook on stove and should work for burritos. That's what's going to be made in the Marbas house on Sunday. Anyway. Someone asks Colin, “Using frozen meals prepared ahead of time. What is your opinion using a microwave on busy evenings instead of thawing it traditionally?”
Dr. Colin Zhu
(25:24)
Hmm. So, if it's frozen vegetables, for example… So I'm not a big fan of microwaves, but if you have to do it. I've never thought of… So how I thaw vegetables is- because I use vegetables so… I'm Asian, so our comfort food is noodles. So I make everything either with noodles or soup or something like that, so I throw it in there. To thaw it quicker, I get a pot or a mixing bowl, that's not a colander, a mixing bowl. Fill up with water and just throw it in there. It'll thaw faster instead of just letting it just sit on the counter, for example, and/or using a microwave.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(26:10)
Okay. Very good. And you guys have other questions? Anything else more specific?
Dr. Chris Miller
(26:17)
What are some of your favorite herbs and spices you like to make a plain, kind of bland-ish meal just pop and come to life?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(26:25)
Mm. That's a good question. It depends on what type of flavor profile you want or what type of culture you want to try to [crosstalk 00:26:34]
Dr. Chris Miller
(26:33)
What if I want to try Asian? Teach me something Asian that's really delicious and makes the food pop.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(26:41)
So every country has their own favorite herbs and spices and we can probably do a whole session just on that. But Asian, it depends. So, like Thai food, they use a lot of malanga, galangal, lemongrass, cilantro. Asian? If you're talking about Chinese, ginger is always a win, garlic is always a win, cilantro is always a win. We use five-spice in certain recipes. We use a lot of soy sauce, tamari in Chinese, Japanese. Let me see. Last night, had a friend who's Lebanese, they use a lot of sumac. If you're from the Seattle area or DC area or LA area, there's a lot of Ethiopian cultures here.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(27:49)
I've actually made a Ethiopian dish so I used Berebere spice mix, which is a lot of paprika and chilies and things like that. I would say on hand, if I had to pick just handful of spices and herbs, in terms of herbs, I always have parsley and cilantro, I always have scallions, I always have ginger, I always have garlic. I always have cumin [crosstalk 00:28:17]
Dr. Niki Davis
(28:17)
You're making me hungry.
Dr. Chris Miller
(28:20)
I know. It sounds good. [crosstalk 00:28:20].
Dr. Colin Zhu
(28:20)
I always have cumin, I always have paprika. I love spice so I always have some form of chili, whether it's red pepper flakes or just like the grounded kind. Turmeric, I use turmeric a lot. We talk a lot about turmeric with health, especially the anti inflammatory property and things like that. Use a lot of that. If you guys want to up level your salads, I make a mean golden salad that uses a lot of turmeric, a lot of nutritional yeast because of the B vitamins, a little bit of pepper. And just throwing that with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, avocados. I use Persian cucumbers, and a little bit of salad green.
Dr. Chris Miller
(29:17)
That sounds delicious. So do you put your dressing just with a little vinegar or with turmeric [crosstalk 00:29:22]
Dr. Colin Zhu
(29:23)
If you guys are a fan of apple cider vinegar, sometimes I use that. If you want to make it more of an Asian profile, you can use rice wine vinegar. Some of them are a little bit seasoned with sugar, so those that are more metabolically challenged, probably dial down on that. Yeah. I even sometimes use balsamic for that as well.
Dr. Chris Miller
(29:55)
That sounds good, I'll have to try that. Thank you.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(29:57)
Yeah. Yeah. Keep remembering I got to write that recipe up. I'm more of a cook that just wings it. And then I'm like, “Oh man, I should have written that down.”
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(30:12)
Any other comments from anyone else? I know we're kind of pushing up against the half hour mark here. And we could talk about food all day, but…
Dr. Kim Scheuer
(30:19)
You think about air fryers and the use of those?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(30:25)
Air fryers? I think it's a great concept. They're marketing it as like you're using 70% less oil. So for those that are transitioning from using a lot of oil, whether you're used to deep frying or grilling, things like that, I think it's a nice transition. I think it's more of a once in a while type of thing, that's not the healthiest method. I like to use a convection oven to be able to kind of give it a little bit more of the browning process. I don't deep fry things a lot, but I have used it. I have used air frying a lot. It's good for if you want to treat yourself to sweet potato fries or something like that.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(31:19)
Yeah. We just have a Breville Oven, it's a smart oven. It has like 13 different functions and the air fryer's what we- when we are ready for potatoes, we'll put those potatoes in. [crosstalk 00:31:29] That works out really nicely.
Dr. Kim Scheuer
(31:30)
Or tofu.
Dr. Niki Davis
(31:31)
Yeah. We have that same one, we love it.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(31:33)
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Absolutely. Actually you can cut up corn tortillas, make chips out of them that way as well.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(31:44)
[crosstalk 00:31:44] What have you tried doing kale chips on them?
Dr. Kim Scheuer
(31:46)
Kale chips.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(31:48)
Oh yeah. Definitely have done kale chip plenty of times. Yep. For sure. We got a lot of kale right now from our CSA. Speaking of air frying and roasting, do you use anything… I like to use aquafaba on vegetables and everything cause it'll give them a little bit of that crisp, and it makes seasoning stick. Do you use anything else that kind of helps make things stick to the things that you might be roasting or cooking?
Dr. Colin Zhu
(32:14)
No, not really. For example, brussels sprouts. If I'm trying to roast brussels sprouts, I will just kind of toss them in… I experiment with different seasonings and I'll just toss them. And I'll use a little bit of balsamic vinegar, cut up a lot of garlic, a lot of garlic. And then when they're coming out just kind of, another hint of balsamic again. I would take a mixing bowl and just kind of play around. So if you're, for example, going back to sweet potato or your potato, just experiment with different spice profiles and herbs, too. And just try like that.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(33:07)
I would use dry herbs before you apply heat and marinate it for. Not to kind of garnish things, use fresh herbs to garnish things with before you put it into an oven or something like that. It's really about playing around with it.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(33:28)
Cool. Any other thoughts? Questions? Anybody? All right, guys. All right, Dr. Zhu, tell us where you're licensed and your website and some other things you have going on so people are aware of where to find you.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(33:43)
Yeah, definitely. So thank you again for having me. It's good to see everyone, talk to everyone. If you want to find me or make an appointment, just go to Plant Based TeleHealth, and I am at the bottom. And I am licensed in California, Washington, Texas, Connecticut, Florida, and soon to be New Jersey. And my social media, I'm the handle @thechefdoc. I have a website and I also have a masterclass series, teaching people about lifestyle medicine and culinary medicine. So if you want to check out that as well and I also have a podcast. These lovely folks will be on very, very soon. In a couple weeks, I think. And it's a great range of guests and we learn a lot of different things there. So definitely come on by and definitely reach out. Don't be shy.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(34:42)
Awesome. And also, if you go to Meet the Docs, you'll see all the docs pictures here and Dr. Zhu is over here on the right side, I think. But any of the docs, you can click on them, it scrolls down. You can make an appointment to see anybody at plantbasedtelehealth.com. Please share, if you don't need one of us, maybe one of your friends do, but please share. And all of my lovely docs, do you want to say anything at here at the end, just to wrap it up? Dr. Niki.
Dr. Niki Davis
(35:11)
Hi. I love talking food. So it's been a fun time to talk about food. And now I feel like I need to go get some lunch.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(35:22)
Awesome.
Dr. Niki Davis
(35:23)
But I'm licensed in California, Utah, Florida, and expanding very soon to other states. So I will update you all once those are settled. And I also am family medicine and lifestyle medicine, and love being part of this group of docs.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(35:41)
And you should head over to the Healthy Human Revolution podcast, where we had an awesome interview and it's garnishing with lots of fun comments from people. And Dr. Zhu [crosstalk 00:35:51].
Dr. Niki Davis
(35:50)
I'm might have to go over there and check out those comments. We talked a lot about some fun stuff.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(35:56)
Yes we did. And Dr. Zhu was on, as well. So we got to talk about some good stuff. And Dr. Kim?
Dr. Kim Scheuer
(36:01)
Hey, I love doing dishes. So anybody who wants to cook for me, I'm happy to do your dishes.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(36:08)
We got to do a food demo soon.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(36:11)
Oh, you definitely tell us how to set it up and then we'll go from there. So, Dr. Chris?
Dr. Chris Miller
(36:18)
Well, I love to teach cooking classes. And the last one I was teaching was not too long ago, locally here. And I burnt the soup and I dropped the salad dish onto the floor. So it was a disaster, but it was fun because I said, “You know what?” We still [inaudible 00:36:37] salvaged what we could and found food out of it. I'm like, “It's still healing food. And we're having a great time and it's bringing us together and we're laughing.” And so it turned out to be a really fun cooking class. But my tip to people is, you don't have to be a chef, just have fun with it. These are healing foods. And when you pick fresh vegetables and real foods, even if it doesn't taste great always, it's still healing food and it's doing the job and you can still have fun with it. So I probably need to sign up for your cooking class, too, before I teach anymore myself.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(37:12)
And the amazing Dr. Klaper.
Dr. Michael Klaper
(37:13)
It's the food. Been the food all along. And might as well make it taste good. It doesn't take that much to make it taste good. And as Dr. Zhu was telling us, especially once you make a given dish, two, three times, you got it. You can make it in your sleep. And surprising little hassle, they keep a long time in the fridge. It doesn't go bad like animal based dishes do. All the way around, it's a wonderful, clean, lovely, healing way to cook, like Dr. Miller says. So I'm really grateful to have someone like Dr. Zhu as a spark point to remind us to have fun and make the food taste great. And it'll heal you at the same time. So welcome board and thanks for a great session. Appreciate it.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(38:03)
Thank you, good sir.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(38:06)
And you want to go ahead and give us a little bit of what your website, you mentioned it here on the webinar, your personal one. Or your master class or whatever it is you put in here.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(38:14)
Yeah, I put it on the chat window. So it's called The Thr5 Formula. It's a course essentially for everyone, general public, for physicians, for students, it's actually approved for credits. So, you know a doc or know of a nurse, we give credits for some of the sessions. And about 50 speakers, 50 plus hours. And we have food as medicine, functional fitness, community, resilience, and relationships. And they're all components that I call The Five to Thrive. Just check it out, know, email me if you have any questions. It's important, especially what we've gone through, is to not just survive, but thrive. And taking back, not just this year, but going further and beyond. And it's super important. And we want to do this as a community, I mean, this is a community. You see all of our lovely faces right now and for those watching at home. So, it's important that we support each other. So I'm here as a support as well as everyone else is as well.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(39:25)
Great. And that's T-H-E like the. And then thrive is T-H-R, the number 5, formula dot co.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(39:34)
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(39:34)
Correct? Okay. So I want to make sure [inaudible 00:39:35]. I think it's listed on the Plant Based TeleHealth site as well. If not, we need to make sure that it's there. So [crosstalk 00:39:41]
Dr. Michael Klaper
(39:41)
Yeah. I'd like to urge everyone check out this program. Dr. Zhu did a wonderful job on this website and the entire 5 to Thrive Program. He put a lot of care into it, a lot of great speakers, a lot of practical information. It's really a work art. I really commend him on it says [crosstalk 00:40:00] for your time. Absolutely.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(40:01)
Yeah. We got Chef AJ there. We got Dr. Steven [Esser 00:40:05] there. We have a whole bunch of great folks there that have taught sessions there.
Dr. Laurie Marbas
(40:11)
Awesome. Well, thank you again, everyone and Dr. Zhu, especially, for your wisdom in culinary medicine, and I'm hoping everyone will check you guys out and don't forget, this is plantbasedtelehealth.com. And we thank you. And we'll be back on August 12th, where we're actually going to have Paul Chatlin join us and Lisa Smith from the Plant-Based Support Nutrition Group. So you guys check us out, so we'll see you soon. Have a good one.
Dr. Colin Zhu
(40:36)
Bye, everyone. [crosstalk 00:40:38]
Dr. Kim Scheuer
(40:38)
Be well.
*Recorded on 3.11.21