In our “Middle Eastern Favorites” cooking class, discover the bold flavors and aromatic spices that define this region as you learn to make tender stuffed grape leaves (dolmas), vibrant tabbouleh salad, and succulent chicken shawarma served with hearty mujadara lentils and rice topped with caramelized onions. End the experience with a sweet indulgence—flaky pistachio and honey baklava. This class celebrates the rich traditions and wholesome ingredients that make Middle Eastern cooking a timeless favorite.
Course Dishes:
- Dolmas: Stuffed Grape Leaves
- Tabbouleh Salad
- Chicken Shawarma with Mujadara Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions
- Pistachio and Honey Baklava
To participate in this course you will be required to review and sign our Acknowledgment of Risk. Please click the button below to review, sign, and submit the waiver prior to class.
Please direct any questions to Programs Coordinator, Adrianne Ong, at adrianmo@hs.uci.edu
Instructor: Jessica VanRoo, Executive Chef
In the skilled hands of Jessica VanRoo (“Chef Jess”), food becomes medicine that melts in your mouth.
A professional chef with two decades of experience and a culinary management degree from Art Institute of Orange County, VanRoo has a keen understanding of the power of food. This awareness feeds her passion for teaching people tips and techniques for preparing food that tastes great and can improve health.
VanRoo is executive chef of the UCI Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute’s Mussallem Nutritional Education Center, a teaching kitchen where whole health flourishes through food as medicine. She is the creative chef who develops institute programs that please the palate and promote culinary medicine. Her menus are rich in produce, reflecting the influence of her upbringing in Taiwan.
Under VanRoo’s leadership, nutritional education center instructors – professional chefs and registered dietitians, often accompanied by physicians – connect the dots between food and health in programs for health professionals, patients and community organizations. She has also equipped the eight-station teaching kitchen and dining space to support group medical visits and culinary medicine research that involves meal preparation and service.
