Delicious Food for Swallowing

For those with swallowing problems who love to eat

Posts Tagged ‘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

Potato soup (Vichyssoise)

July 1st, 2013

It’s been hot and humid and I have a lot of vegetables in my frig to use up before I pick up the delivery of my next batch of vegetables from the CSA (Community Sustained Agriculature). I intended to use up more than I actually did, so l’m going to have to make more of these cold vegetable soups. Well, I say “cold,” but they can be served hot or at room temperature. The classic vichyssoise recipe is the one in Julia Child’s first cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It uses only a few ingredients: potatoes, leeks, cream and butter and the combination produces an absolutely delicious soup!. You can check it out at this website: http://homecooking.about.com/od/soups/r/blss114.htm. I had a lot of potatoes, onions, but no leeks. So I improvised. Here’s what I made:

Potato Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup diced onions (or leeks if you have them, but they are a lot more work than onions since they needs to be thoroughly washed repeatedly)

1 cup diced celery

4 large russet potatoes , diced

2 tablespoons fresh herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, parsley), tied into a bundle of cheesecloth

1 large clove of garlic minced

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup cream (half & half; creme fraiche, or real cream)

salt to taste

H Browning onions & eat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and celery and cook slowly for about 10 minutes. Add the diced potatoes, herb bundle, garlic and stir to combine.Cook for 5 minutes more, then add the chicken broth. Cook over low heat 30 minutes more or until potatoes are tender. Remove the herb bundle. Let mixture stand until cool enough to handle. When cool, puree in a blender, two or three cups at a time. . When pureed thoroughly, pour into a large bowl. Add the 1/2cup of half and half and salt and stair until incorporated. Let cool to room temperature or put in the refrigerator to chill. The soup will thicken as it sits.

Note: I used Russet potatoes because these potatoes have the most starch and can by themselves be used as a thickeners. So this soup is quite thick. If you need it somewhat thinner then don’t add the potato starch.