Liquid & Pureed Recipes That Aren't Totally Boring

The six week no chewing, liquid and pureed diet can be the hardest thing to manage during post-operative care. The best thing is to be fully prepared with tonnes of ideas with varied flavours. I was fortunate enough to have an amazing cook aka Mum looking after me, and here I'll list some great options she or I (and my sister) made.

Instant snack or meal options include smooth instant soups, yoghurt, mousses, jelly (broken into pieces), hot chocolate, supplement drinks, creamed rice, Fruche, custard, ice cream and pureed fruit. Keep plenty of these handy for a quick meal. Also, all of the soup recipes freeze wonderfully, so make extra and freeze in individual portions. 

I warn you. For awhile, eating and drinking is going to feel like this:

Breakfast

Apple and Cinnamon Porridge

Serves 1

• 1/3 cup plain oats
• 1 cup water or milk of choice
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Honey, Golden Syrup, or Maple Syrup
• Pureed Apple
• Soluble fibre

Add water or milk to oats in a single serve bowl and microwave on high for two minutes, stir, and microwave for another minute. Stir in fibre. Blend in food processor for even better consistency. Add more milk if required, and top with honey or syrup, and pureed apple.

Avocado & Feta 

Serves 1

One of my favourite things to eat at breakfast time has always been avocado and feta on toast. Well, you can't eat toast, but this is a superb alternative for that great savoury hit.

• 1/2 an avocado
• 2 cubes of marinated feta
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Simply mash the avocado and feta together with a fork until a fine mush, and add salt and pepper to taste. A great alternative is replacing one of the ingredients with hummus instead.

Breakfast Semolina

Serves 1

Semolina is a very, very fine grain from the centre of wheat, and can be used to make a very different tasting porridge.  You can add syrup or honey to taste, and serve it with pureed fruit if you like.

• 1/3 cup semolina
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Put the semolina, milk, water, brown sugar and salt in a small saucepan.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring, until it is as thick as you want it. This usually takes about 3-5 minutes. Serve in a bowl or mug with a little milk.



 Lunch & Dinner

Cheese Souffle

Serves 4

Something a little bit fancy to make you feel human again. You shouldn't attempt to eat the crust on top, but the rest should simply melt on your tongue with no chewing required.

• Melted butter, to grease
• 30g butter
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 310ml (1 1/4 cups) milk
• 80g (1 cup) coarsely grated cheddar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
• 4 eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush a 1.5L (6-cup) capacity ovenproof souffle dish with melted butter to lightly grease. Place a baking tray in the oven.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until mixture bubbles and begins to come away from the side of the pan. Remove from heat. Gradually pour in half the milk, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk until mixture is smooth. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking until smooth and combined. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 3-4 minutes or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
3. Add the cheddar, chives and egg yolks, and stir until cheddar melts and the mixture is well combined.
4. Use an electric beater to beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Add one-quarter of the egg white to the cheddar mixture and use a large metal spoon to fold until just combined. Add the remaining egg white and fold until just combined.
5. Pour the souffle mixture into the prepared dish. Run your finger around the inside rim of the dish in the souffle mixture. (This will give the cooked souffle a "top hat" appearance.) Place souffle on preheated baking tray in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and puffed (souffles are best when they're still slightly runny in the centre). Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Ricotta, Pumpkin & Pesto "Tart"

Serves 4

This recipe is one my mum memorised from a Woman's Day magazine in a waiting room and adapted to make without a base. Of course, if you're making it for the rest of the family too, or like it so much you want to make it when you're back on a normal diet, simply follow the instructions on the savoury tart case (we use Pampas brand) box.

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Olive oil, for sauteeing
• Butter, for sauteeing
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Tsp sumac or dried thyme
• 500gm ricotta
• 1/2 butternut pumpkin
• Jar of pesto (the nuts in the pesto should not cause you any problems, being so tiny and soft).

1. Gently saute the onion and garlic in a mixture of butter and olive oil
2. Add the sumac or thyme
3. Blend the ricotta with the sauteed onion and garlic in a food processor
4. Dice the butternut pumpkin into rough cubes, drizzle with olive oil and flavour with thyme and chili flakes, then mash.
5. Divide ricotta mixture between 4 serving bowls, then top with the pumpkin and a heaped teaspoon of pesto. Enjoy!

One-Pot Butter Beans With Chorizo & Chipotle

Serves 4

My pureed version (in bowl) with "antipasto"

This recipe is taken from a Delicious magazine and is another great one to serve without being blended to other members of the family. It has a delcious flavour rich with spices, without being hot. My mum served this as a delicious "antipasto platter", pictured. It also included ricotta mixed with a roasted capsicum dip, some hummus, and home made eggplant dip. The eggplant dip was simply eggplant seasoned with garlic salt, olive oil and chilli flakes, roasted until soft, skin removed and then pureed.

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 200g pancetta, chopped
• 100g dried chorizo, chopped
• 2 dried chipotle chillies, finely chopped
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 200mL chicken stock
• 4 thyme sprigs, or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 x 400g cans butter beans, rinsed and drained
• Chopped coriander (cilantro for Americans), to serve

1. Heat the oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, then remove.
2. Increase the heat to medium-high, add pancetta and chorizo, and cook until crisp.
3. Return the onion to the pan, stir in the chipotle, chopped tomatoes, vinegar, chicken stock, thyme and bay leaf. Season well, then simmer, stirring for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in butter beans and cook for 5 minutes. Scatter with coriander to serve.
5. Remove bay leaf and blend in food processor or blender to desired consistency 

Smoothies

Banana Mango Booster Smoothie

Serves 1

• 2 small frozen or fresh bananas, or 1 large banana
• Milk of your choice (I used rice milk)
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 3 tbsp traditional greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup chopped mango (I used purchased frozen mango)
• 1 tsp maca powder
• 1 tsp acai powder
• 1 tsp soluble fibre, if desired

Combine all ingredients in blender and process, slowly adding milk to achieve your desired consistency.

Turmeric Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie

Serves 1

• 1 cup milk of your choice
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple or mango chunks
• 1 fresh banana
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (can be increased to 1 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon maca (optional)
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional, if you don't like the bitterness of turmeric)

Add all ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. 

Dessert

Jellied Cake

Serves 1

There is absolutely no reason you shouldn't have your cake and eat it too at this point in your life (and diet). This is a very flexible recipe, as you can use almost any type of cake or muffin and flavoured jelly. My favourite is a vanilla and jam cake, or a vanilla or blueberry muffin.

• A piece of cake, a muffin or cupcake of your choosing with no hard bits
• Jelly crystals in a complementary flavour of your choice
• Water
• Custard, to serve

Simply prepare the jelly according to instructions and pour the unset liquid over the cake, making sure it gets fully absorbed and there is a little extra surrounding it. Set it the fridge, and the jelly will make the cake nice and soft. Serve with warm custard, and slightly mash into more manageable pieces.

Frozen Lemon Mousse Icecream

Serves 6

This recipe is based on the Popsicle recipe over at food blog The Sugar Hit. My sister made this in bowls instead, and without the crunch gingersnap crumbs. No, you won't be able to eat an iceblock, not even by licking it. Well, I couldn't get my tongue out far enough.

Ingredients

• 1 x  400g can condensed milk
• Juice and zest of one large lemon (approximately ½ cup/125ml juice)
• 1 cup (250ml) cream

Instructions

1. Place the condensed milk, lemon zest and juice into a bowl and whisk together (the condensed milk will thicken slightly).
2. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form (less is more).
3. Fold the cream into the condensed milk and lemon mixture, and then pour the mixture into your bowls or single bowl/container moulds.
4. Place in freezer until set.