Delicious Food for Swallowing

For those with swallowing problems who love to eat

Posts Tagged ‘cold soup’

Another Cold Soup

August 5th, 2013

I decided to make Gazpacho because I’d picked up a package of peppers on the day-old rack at the A&P and I had cucumbers and tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market in the refrigerator. Since I didn’t have tomato juice, I used a thick Salsa (Old El Paso, thick ‘n Chunky).By itself, it’s thick enough to be good for people with swallowing problems–just a quick whiz in the food processor to take out the chunkiness and it would be ready as a dip. I, however, used it as the base for the Gazpacho. Since the classic Gazpacho uses bread, there’ll be a second thickener. Here’s the recipe:

Gazpacho

1 cup Thick’n Chunky Salsa or tomato juice

1 small cucumber, peelel

1 cup diced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

1/2 diced red onion (about a half a cup)

1/2 cup of white onions, chopped

1/2 large red pepper

1/2 large green pepper

1/2 large yellow pepper

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic

2 Tablespoons of chopped parsley or

2 Tablespoons chopped basil

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and no chunks remain.

Add:

1 large slice of white or brown bread (I used whole wheat sourdough)

Blend again until smooth. Chill until ice cold and serve.

My gazpacho was quite thick, as you can see. And it’s a sort of brown color which is not too attractive, truthfully; but that’s because I used brown bread (duh!). On the other hand, it was very tasty. If this turns out to be too thick for you to swallow, thin it with tomato juice or water. For the rest of the family (those without a swallowing problem), add tomatoes, peppers, red onion finely chopped and serve cold

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Tags: cold soup Gazpacho soup

Summer Borscht

July 19th, 2013

I hate dealing with beets, but I love cold borscht. So this recipe minimizes some of the mess (although my kitchen counter had a lot of pink splotches) and in the end tastes as good as if you’d cooked the beets yourself. Canned beets work for the base of the soup and then add vacuum packed beets available in most supermarkets in the produce section. The picture at the left shows dill added as a garnish–don’t serve this to anyone with a swallowing disorder! But it looks pretty.

1 8-oz can sliced or diced canned beets

1 6-oz container sour cream

½ cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar (or Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar)

2 cups diced English cucumber, seeds removed

2 tablespoons chopped dill

1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

Directions

Blend all of the above together in a blender until thoroughly blended. Consistency will be at a nectar level, but will thicken as it sits. If not thick enough, add the frozen peas. Put into container with a lid and refrigerator for 4 hours of longer.

Add the following:

1 cup diced pre-cooked beets

1 cup diced cucumbers

½ cup diced scallions, white and green parts

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, plus extras for garnishing

sliced hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Take out 1 cup or 2 cups for the person with the swallowing disorder and blend again thoroughly in the blender. Soup should be a spoon thick consistency and appropriate for most individuals with swallowing problems.

Serve the remainder of the soup to the rest of the family with the chunks still in the soup, if desired. A sprig of dill would look lovely as would a slice of hard-boiled egg.