Food Fest!

Hospital food is not the best, to put it mildly. And when you are prone to vomiting anyway from all the chemo, the mere whiff of something strong (broccoli and pork, I mean YOU...and sometimes chicken...) can send you reeling. I lost 30 pounds during my chemo off of a 135-pound frame, partly because I had no appetite and partly because the food, if I felt like eating (which wasn't often), was so awful. For a while I had to have a feeding tube just to make sure I got some nutrition, both on life support and off of it when I fortunately didn't need life support anymore. I remember at least once that neither the nurse nor I could identify the main ingredient in what looked like some kind of stew. I lived -- barely -- off of mushroom soup, cereal, yogurt and vast quantities of orange juice, supplemented by the barely-tolerable Ensure for extra calories and vitamins.

So, now that I am home and able to cook -- and eat!-- again, I am rediscovering the joy of good food!

With websites such as Epicurious and foodie magazines, good, simple recipes with fresh ingredients are easy to come by. Here are a few that I've tried in the past few months that are repeat-worthy.

Salmon Chowder
The recipe is easy and tasty, but I do modify it somewhat by adding shellfish (shrimp, scallops) and/or whitefish in addition to the salmon. With the shellfish, I call it Two Ocean Chowder...Three Ocean Chowder if I use arctic char as the whitefish. I've also used canned corn instead of frozen. It reminds me of my brother-in-law who hails from New Brunswick, although his chowder isn't made with salmon or shellfish, just whitefish. Serve it with a fresh baguette.
http://www.epicurious.com//recipes/food/views/salmon-chowder-238699

Home-made Gnocchi
I had never made gnocchi before, but I was going through a period where it was hard to stomach meat. These potato snippets turned out pillowy soft, and I got to buy my very first potato-ricer. I had first read about a potato ricer when I was about 10, from a reference in the LM Montgomery book Jane of Lantern Hill, but I had never met one in person until now. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/gnocchi-with-sage-butter-and-parmesan

Peach Crisp
The recipe says to make it in a cast-iron skillet, but as it goes in the oven and my great-grandmother's cast iron skillet has a wooden handle, I did this in a casserole dish and it was still tasty. I have however since purchased an all-metal cast-iron skillet and plan to use it next time. It's supposed to caramelize the peaches.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/iron-skillet-peach-crisp

Shrimp Pad Thai
I always loved Pad Thai, and this is both easy and tasty. Shrimp was also easier on my stomach than meat.
http://www.epicurious.com//recipes/food/views/shrimp-pad-thai-for-two-51206850

Chocolate Plum Cake
I didn't know what to expect from this recipe, but it turned out moist and dense, sort of like a fruity chocolate brownie. It was delicious and not terribly sweet like some chocolate cakes. It is seasonal, because you have to use fresh plums and puree them, and you can't get plums -- at least not here -- year round.
http://www.epicurious.com//recipes/food/views/chocolate-plum-cake-56390135

Chocolate Pudding
This is incredibly easy. When I made it for a family get-together, my nephews and niece voted it Best Dessert Ever, and two of them actually asked if I would teach them to make it. I did swap out the vanilla for Grand Marnier in the pudding (and increased the amount) as well as in the whipped cream topping. It is incredibly rich and extremely sweet so a small serving goes a long way.
http://www.epicurious.com//recipes/food/views/chocolate-puddings-with-orange-whipped-cream-364092

Flank-steak with Corn Salsa
OK, this one is a bit hot, as in spicy. After chemo, my taste buds are pretty sensitive (alcohol and sometimes even sugar burn) so if you are also sensitive to spicy food, reduce the cayenne pepper by quite a lot. But it is delicious and again, really easy. My husband loved this one. Instead of fresh corn, I used frozen and "grilled" it in a cast-iron pan before adding it to the salsa.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/dry-rubbed-flank-steak-with-grilled-corn-salsa

Pho
Vietnamese noodle soup is one of my husband's favourites, so I decided to try a recipe I saw in House Beautiful magazine's October 2015 edition (I subscribe to Texture by Next Issue on my iPad, so I have access to a lot of digital magazines). The recipe's creator is John Besh. I can't find a link to the recipe, but you sautee green onions, garlic, ginger and Chinese 5-spice powder in sesame oil, then add chicken broth. Meanwhile, cook some beef (I used grilled flank steak), slice it thinly, and place it on top of cooked rice noodles in a bowl, then top with the broth and some fresh-squeezed lime juice. Add fresh cilantro, basil, sprouts, hoisin sauce and chile paste to taste. It smells great and tastes good too.

Happy eating!