Soup recipes for chemo
May 27, 2020 5:37 PM   Subscribe

I am looking for some recipes for soup for a friend who is going through chemo. She has a sensitive stomach and will be having a procedure that will make it difficult to chew. I am looking for soups that a) can be pureed b) are non-dairy, do not contain tomato or lemon juice, and do not contain cumin or curry, and are not otherwise too acidic b) are hopefully not totally boring. Help me metafilter!
posted by bq to Food & Drink (18 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
I don't have a specific soup...but I will tell you that Serious Eats has an excellent guide to making creamy vegetable soups. Don't be thrown off by the word creamy as this will provide strategies for getting creamy texture without dairy.

I'd probably start off with roasted carrot and cauliflower cooked down in some vegetable or chicken stock along with a bit of ginger and garlic and chilli powder. Puree that and mount it with a bit olive oil.
posted by mmascolino at 5:53 PM on May 27, 2020 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Carrot soup. Here's a recipe that is dairy-free.

Vegan potato-leek soup.

Carrot and sweet potato soup.

Look for vegan creamy soup recipes.

My cousin is going through chemo now and I wish I lived close enough to cook for her. It's wonderful that you're doing this.
posted by mareli at 5:58 PM on May 27, 2020 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Chestnut Soup made with olive oil or a non-dairy butter substitute, and without the cream at the end. Very rich! It really doesn't need any cream at all, but you could always use a non-dairy option.

Zucchini-Basil Soup needs no modifications.
posted by expialidocious at 5:59 PM on May 27, 2020


Asparagus, chicken broth, roux, blender.
posted by theora55 at 6:34 PM on May 27, 2020


Best answer: Tips:

- Canned coconut milk will boost creaminess, smooth mouthfeel, and add calories and fat.

- Plain (no butterflavor, no cheesestuffs, avoid the garlicky ones, just plain dehydrated potato) instant mashed potatoes will thicken and help her feel fuller. Cooked rice will do the same, and cooked pasta.

- Better Than Bouillon broth base is much easier to keep around (over boxes of broth), full of flavor and umami. Check the labels for lemon or tomato - not a problem except in the veg base, I think.

- Chicken, poached separately or in the soup broth (dice it up pretty good to help cook faster), will blend to slurry. Don't be afraid to bulk up vegetarian recipes with chicken and blend it in, or make one of the classic soups and blend it. Sometimes you just want chicken noodle (and if she decides that tiny whole pasta like orzo, mini stars, the really small orecchiette are swallowable, it may be a relief from relentlessly pureed soups; ditto rice), or chicken and rice.

Simple egg drop (sliver, puree, or leave out the mushrooms), sweet potato soup. If she does decide a swallowable chunky-but-no-chewing soup will work for her, you can semi-puree a bean soup like pinto bean (I've made this for a tomato-allergic friend, the base comes from carrot, it's really good), or white bean, ham and split pea.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:49 PM on May 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


Split Pea Soup made in a crockpot couldn't be easier: a pkg of split peas, a ham hock, 1 cup chopped carrots, 1 diced yellow onion, 2 stalks of celery chopped, 2-3 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 bay leaf, 1 carton of chicken stock plus 2 cups of water. Mix and cook 5-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Soup ends up the consistency of mashed potatoes. A spoon will stand upright. You can fish out the ham hock afterwards, the flavor will be in the soup. Doesn't taste anything like peas.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:11 PM on May 27, 2020


Best answer: Try some of the soups on this page - Cooking With Cancer, particularly the olive chowder or the pineapple soup. (Filter by category soup). The site was developed by a local oncologist who went to culinary school to help develop recipes for his patients undergoing chemo/radiation treatment.
posted by wearyaswater at 7:36 PM on May 27, 2020 [3 favorites]


I make his cream of zucchini soup over and over and it is really easy to make non dairy, just sub a plant based plain yogurt for the sour cream.
posted by mygothlaundry at 8:22 PM on May 27, 2020


THe American Cancer Society publishes (published) a little book called "What to eat when you don't feel like eating." if you can call them and see if it's available as a PDF (it's been 20 years now for me, I bet now days it or some version is online free) that would be a great resource.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:25 PM on May 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


Butternut squash with apple is nice! Nice mild flavour, no spices needed.

I would chop a peeled squash plus 1-2 peeled apples
throw them into the slow cooker with 1.5 boxes of broth,
cook for a few hours,
purée,
add a can of coconut milk if desired,
Salt to taste.

If you have other veggies handy like potato, sweet potato, carrots, or a pear, they can be added or substituted in too. You can also use frozen squash. And the Apple isn’t necessary- just squash is great too.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:32 PM on May 27, 2020


Any of the Baked Potato Soup recipes out there, and just skip adding the dairy that some call for.
posted by misterbrandt at 9:11 PM on May 27, 2020


Take the meat from a cooked squash, purée with milk, heat, season to taste. Add a spoonful of sour cream as a garnish. Yum!

Oh, sorry. I missed the non-dairy part. And that’s the only soup I’ve got.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:35 PM on May 27, 2020


When I make vegan potato-leek soup, I throw in half a can of white beans -- it gives the pureed soup a more creamy texture without the dairy.

I make my butternut squash soup with miso and ginger -- if those are allowed it's a good way to add flavour without spices or acids. The linked recipe has chili powder and turmeric but I don't think they're necessary.
posted by vanitas at 10:53 PM on May 27, 2020


I don't have a recipe, but I roast pumpkin (butter nut- you guys call it squash) - then add whatever veggies I have, zucchini is good, potato, sweet potato (orange kind), carrot, broccoli, - basically I clean out th fridge. Season with salt and the spices I feel like (garlic, pepper, paprika). Sometimes I caramelise onions at the start, sometimes not. Cover with water, cook until everything is soft, blitz.

Roasting the pumpkin makes it nicer, but that's optional.
posted by freethefeet at 1:13 AM on May 28, 2020


It's been a while since I cooked for someone undergoing chemo, but part of it is that things taste differently while you are doing it. So it's not just the ingredients and mouthfeel. I don't remember what I cooked, but I recommend using specialist cookbooks or websites, or asking at the hopsital. Also, individual patients have individual needs.
posted by mumimor at 4:52 AM on May 28, 2020


Chickpea flour or instant mashed potato flakes are both good non-dairy soup thickeners. Fat - olive oil or other tasty oil - adds calories, mouthfeel, and taste.
posted by theora55 at 8:09 AM on May 28, 2020


THe American Cancer Society publishes (published) a little book called "What to eat when you don't feel like eating."

This book appears to be available to borrow on the Internet Archive. The free preview is lacking everything, but it seems to be there.
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on May 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


Best answer: With any of these, most of the vinegar or lemon additions are just to provide a bit of contrast, but i think you could avoid them completely, or start with a very light touch.

Thai Corn Soup (maybe take out/reduce/strain out the chili, and temper down the garlic/ginger if thats too much)
Persian Barley-Vegetable Soup
Potato and Almond Soup (open in incognito to avoid paywall)
Cibreo Yellow Pepper Soup
Palestinian Red Lentil and Squash Soup
Carrot Apple Ginger Soup
Jerusalem Artichoke and Golden Mushroom Soup
Apple, Potato and Parsnip Soup (skip the goats cheese and swab butter with any kind of butter substitute or oil you have laying around)
Roast Red Bell Pepper Soup with Star Anise
Ginger-Pear Soup (swab the butter, skip the cream and the gorgonzola)
Celeriac and Apple Soup (skip or swab the butter/milk; its not doing too much here)
Yucatan Black Bean Soup (skip the tomato addition)
Lentil Soup
Cauliflower-Turmeric Soup (maybe dial back some of the spices here)

Any kind of simple light miso soup, seolleontang (beef broth), or congee, might also hit the spot here.
posted by zsh2v1 at 11:28 AM on May 29, 2020


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