Soft foods

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while and someone on twitter just reminded me.

I can’t eat certain foods as they set off jaw pain.  Things like french sticks, apples, doritos are all no goes for me.  And as I mentioned in my last post I don’t really like soup that much…

So here are some suggestions for not-soup-soft-foods:

• jacket potatoes (I have to leave the skin) with… cheese, houmous, soft cheese, tuna… or even use a sweet potato for more variety
• lentils, see below for a suggested recipe
• fishfinger sandwiches, cut up small and using soft bread
• cauliflower cheese
• overcooked pasta (use small pasta so you don’t have to chew much)
• pancakes
• baked eggs
• poached eggs
• fried eggs
• scrambled eggs
• omlette
• poached or steamed fish can be easy to eat and prepared in many different ways
• smoothies
• juice
• hot chocolate
• tofu – baked, in curry, fried with rice, scrambled etc. if you’re new to tofu, it’s nice and soft and the flavour is very much down to how you season it
• yogurt
• pureed fruit
• mashed potatoes
• ice cream
• some fruits like bananas and raspberries might be ok for you
• some people are ok with rice, i’m not one of them, too much rice and it triggers jaw pain…
• you could try eating cake although it will probably be slower than normal, cream or ice cream might make it easier
• houmous with pita or very soft breads
• other dips are a great way of adding some flavour to what can feel like a very bland diet
• when my jaw was bad i could manage croissants and pain au chocolate, provided they were cut up small, as they sort of melt in your mouth
• on a similar note, puff pastry with cheese on top was ok for me too
• mousse
• mushy peas
• soft chips (as opposed to the crispy kind)
• porridge with fruit
• baby food
• you might be able to manage something like macaroni cheese or fish pie depending on how much you can chew.  as my pain was easing, i could eat macaroni cheese when it was made with small pasta shapes and provided i ate very slowly and had very small mouthfuls

I know there will be many many other options but these were the ones which sprang to mind today!

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Lemon and coriander lentils

Red lentils
Salt and pepper
Garlic paste
Cumin powder
Coriander powder
Lemon juice
Chopped coriander (frozen is good)

Put a saucepan on the heat and pour in the cumin powder, coriander powder, salt, pepper and add garlic paste. Once they’ve started to heat, add your lentils. Stir them into the spices and once well stirred, add enough water to cover the lentils. Stir occasionally and keep an eye on the water, you will probably need to top it up. At the end, you want to end up with no excess water. You’ll know it’s ready because the lentils will be soft and light in colour, normally takes about 20 minutes. Stir in a splash of lemon juice and the chopped coriander. Serve with rice.

Vary the spices for variety, you might want to use thai flavours for example.

Thai inspired lentil and potato soup

I’m currently experiencing a lot of jaw pain which has me on a mostly soft food diet so I thought I’d share a rough recipe for my thai inspired soup.

In addition to very soft bread rolls and soup, I am also eating a lot of yoghurt and drinking a lot of hot chocolate… I’m not a fan of soft food so to make a change from shop bought soup, I got my carer to help me make this much thicker, but still soft, soup.  The lentils mean that as it cools it thickens a lot so if you prefer a thinner soup, maybe reduce the amount of lentils or increase the amount of liquid.

Thai inspired lentil and potato soup

Potatoes – I used two large ones (roughly 500g together) and made a lot of soup. Cube and peel if you can be bothered, I didn’t…

Red lentils – I used about 120g

Ginger, garlic, lemongrass, chilli – all mine are pastes from the supermarket to reduce cutting and slicing

400ml coconut milk, a splash of fish sauce, lime juice

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Add the ginger, garlic, lemongrass and chilli pastes to a large saucepan and turn on the heat.  Cook gently for a minute or two, until it starts to smell good.  Then stir in the potatoes, try and coat them with the paste.  The stir in the lentils.  Add enough water to cover and leave to simmer for a while.  You may need to top up the water because the lentils will suck it up.  Cook until the potatoes are ready, about 20 minutes.

Leave to cool.  This is a good chance to rest your hands.

Once cooled a bit, blend.  Because I had made so much soup, we did this in stages.

Return to pan and stir in coconut milk slowly (you may not need the whole can, it depends on how thick you like your soup).  Once combined, add a splash of fish sauce and lime juice to taste.

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This made 6 portions I think although depending how thick or thin you like your soup this will vary.  Freezes ok.

Variations could include adding peppers and using sweet potatoes instead of or as well as potatoes.  I use the lentil and potatoes as a base for most of my soups, using different flavouring to add variety.