Culinary Medicine

• 5 Spiced Nuts & Seed Mix
• Asparagus Mimosa Salad
• Baked Sweet Potato Arugula Chevre
• Basic Chicken Broth
• Berry Fun Smoothie
• Black Bean Chili
• Braised Cabbage and Apples
• Breakfast Peppers
• Buckwheat Vegetable Soup
• Build a Better Salad
• Carrot Cake Energy Bites
• Chimichurri Herb Sauce
• Chocolate Avocado Mousse
• Classic Minestrone
• Curry Carrot Ginger Puree
• Curry Lentil Quinoa Burger
• Curry Red Lentil Dip
• Curried Squash Soup
• Delicata with Chili Lime Butter
• Fig & Lemony Ricotta Toast with Hazelnuts & Honey
• French Lentil and Barley Harvest Salad
• Frozen Yogurt Bark
• Golden Glow Smoothie
• Golden Milk
• Homemade Creamy Salad Dressings
• Just Call it Pesto
• Kale Breakfast Bowl
• Labneh - Homemade
• Lemony White Bean Dip
• Macro Energy Bites
• Melon Two Ways
• Melon with Lemon and Mint
• Nice Cream
• Okra & Corn

• Poached Cod in Tomato Saffron Broth
• Quick Pickled Chickpeas
• Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles
• Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Sesame Seeds
• Roasted Root Vegetables
• Roasted Summer Squash with Lemon, Mint, and Feta
• Salmon Cakes
• Seasoned Popcorn
• Seedy Baked Chicken Tenders
• Seedy Protein Bars
• Spiced Cacao
• Spiced Chai Black Tea
• Nor’Easter Spring Salad
• Steamed Fish en Papillote
• Summer Strawberry Crisp
• Sunrise Chia Pudding
• Sunset Overnight Oats
• Sweet Potato Bowl
• Tomato Chickpea Basil Salad
• Tomato, Corn and Basil Salad
• Tomato Pepper Sauce
• Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad with Yogurt, Honey and Lemon
• Rainbow Chard Salad with a Tahini Lemon Dressing
• Rainbow Root Vegetable Latkes
• Vinaigrette - Homemade
• Walnut Pate
• Watermelon Electrolyte Drink
• Watermelon Feta Mint Salad
• White Bean Soup with Spring Herbs
• Winter Slaw
• Zucchini Seed Chevre Salad

Ashley C. Turner, MS, RDN, CD
Director of Nutrition Services and Culinary Medicine Program

Ashley Turner is a leader in culinary medicine and serves as Director of Nutrition Services and the Culinary Medicine Program at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), a hospital nationally recognized for redefining how food is used in clinical care. Under her leadership, UVMMC has become a model for integrating culinary medicine into healthcare—where food is not just part of the patient experience, but a central strategy for healing, prevention, and wellness.

With over two decades of experience spanning healthcare management, clinical and community nutrition, Ashley brings a unique and forward-thinking perspective to the role of food in improving patient outcomes. She leads a multidisciplinary team focused on delivering flavorful, therapeutic meals tailored to clinical needs and collaborates closely with providers to embed nutrition into care pathways across the continuum—from inpatient services to outpatient education and long-term recovery.

Leading UVMMC’s award-winning culinary medicine program, Ashley has implemented initiatives that strengthen farm-to-hospital partnerships, reduce food waste through Leanpath technology, and expand access to medical nutrition therapy through Medicare waiver innovation. Her work has elevated hospital dining into a powerful tool for patient empowerment, community engagement, and system-wide transformation.

Ashley believes that healing begins on the plate and that the future of healthcare lies at the intersection of flavor, farming, and function. A native of North Carolina, she holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University and a master’s degree from The University of Alabama.

R. Leah Pryor
Executive Chef Manager and Co-Founder of the Culinary Medicine Program

Chef Leah started her culinary career in 1994. She graduated the Culinary Institute of America with her AOS in culinary arts in 2000. She promptly took the chef position at Fog Island Café, where she ran the kitchen and externship program, teaching young cooks the ways of from-scratch, high-volume breakfast and lunch cookery. She then followed her passion for food to Vermont and took the chef position at Mary’s Restaurant Inn at Baldwin Creek. She worked closely with Chef/Owner Doug Mack, who started the Vermont Fresh Network in 1996, way before farm-to-table was a movement. In 2010 Chef Leah decided to make a change and went to work for the University of Vermont Medical Center. In 2017 she was awarded a UVM Medical Center Foundation grant, through which she has been able to create the Chef Educator role and expand the Culinary Medicine program. In 2020, she was promoted to Executive Chef Manager in Nutrition Services, overseeing the culinary aspects of Patient Services, and continues her work directing the Culinary Medicine program.

Christina Vollbrecht
Chef Educator

Christina began working as a professional chef in Washington DC in 2014 after studying history and completing a Master of Arts in Sociology. Working in the food industry ignited her passion for a local, sustainable food system and regenerative agriculture and led her to pursue a Master of Science in Nutrition in Integrative Health so that she could work with food as medicine. Christina works as an adjunct faculty member teaching behavior change in food selection and preparation at a university in Maryland and runs community nutrition literacy outreach programming in addition to Culinary Medicine programs at UVMMC. Her focus is on food and cooking accessibility and creating a safe environment for nourishment and growth. In 2023 Christina received the UVMMC Foundation Grant and is the first full-time Culinary Medicine team member with a focus on creating a strong, interdisciplinary, and collaborative foundation for Culinary Medicine to grow and thrive. She is passionate about using food as a common denominator to build connections, health, and community.

Rachel Boyers
Garden Educator

Rachel holds a BS from Cornell University and MLA from the University of Pennsylvania, both in landscape architecture. She joined the Culinary Medicine team in 2023. After 10 years of experience as a landscape architect, Rachel’s journey shifted with the birth of her son with special health care needs, whom she found delighted in the sensations he experienced while in her garden. Rachel’s new path included 18 years supporting families of children with disabilities, and a certification in horticultural therapy from the New York Botanical Garden. She is also a UVM Osher Center Integrative Health and Wellness Coaching trainee. Rachel believes that there is an undeniable link between the mind/body and the natural world, and that this relationship is critical to one's mental and physical health and well-being. Rachel feels fortunate to be bringing programming to an organization that supported her family through her child’s many medical challenges. Her goal as Garden Educator is to build community and ensure that the therapeutic benefits of gardening and a strong connection to nature are accessible to everyone.

Lisa Hoare
Garden Educator

Lisa was UVMMC’s first Garden Educator and is credited for the establishment of many of our current programs and the care and upkeep of the garden spaces at our Main Campus and Fanny Allen. Lisa now supports Culinary Medicine in an advisory role and on special projects.

Jessica Fischer
Registered Dietitian

Jess is a Registered Dietitian at UVMMC working in both an inpatient and outpatient setting. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from URI and then ventured up to Vermont for a Master’s degree in nutrition, as well as some skiing. Her studies and interests include sustainable agriculture, gardening, and helping patients build a positive relationship with food and exercise through connection to nature. Other interests include food preservation and helping folks build skills that support their own food security. She is currently completing her Master Gardener Certificate and will continue to be a part of the Culinary Medicine team as a Dietitian with a focus on making home gardening accessible to all through The Learning Garden program.

Alison Precourt
Registered Dietitian

Alison Swanson Precourt RD, CD, CDCES is a registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, providing clinical nutrition expertise at the UVM Medical Center Childrens Hospital for over 30 years. Her focus is  working with the pediatric population. Alison is a graduate of the University of Vermont, with a BS in dietetics and nutrition. She completed her internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ (now part of Rutgers University).   Alison joined the Culinary Medicine team at the University of Vermont Medical Center in 2018. This culinary venture has allowed her the opportunity to team-teach healthy eating through a dynamic and fun approach, blending the joy of cooking with the science of nutrition.