Cooking to fight cancer

At some point, cancer invades the life of someone we know and love. Like most people, I want to help friends and family who are undergoing treatment. I want to cook something irresistible, but I am at a loss as to what would be nourishing and appealing to the patient.

The new book "The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Nourishing, Big Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery" by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson (Celestial Arts, $32.50) provides clear culinary guidelines; it cuts through all the confusing data and offers tangible ways to reach out and be helpful.

"The book contains a lot of information — it's like a toolbox to entice people to eat," said Katz, the senior chef-in-residence and nutritional educator at the Commonweal Cancer Help Program in Marin County. She is the founder of the Inner Cook, a Bay Area culinary practice that specializes in meeting the nutritional needs of cancer patients.

"I think, in many treatment phases, patients lose a connection to food. It is the connection to life, and when someone is vulnerable, food can be a life raft."

She explains that when patients are in treatment, they go through transient taste changes. She says to think about their taste buds as an electric board with some of the circuits flickering on and off. Some foods can taste weird. Maybe even the patient's favorite foods taste peculiar.

"One of things that is a great tool, an old culinary trick, is FASS — fat, acid, salt and sweet," she said, making clear that fat often means olive oil, lemons are the acid, sea salt is the salt and organic maple syrup or agave syrup is the sweet.

Having these "fantastic four of seasoning" available can be a way for the cook (or the patient) to pump up the flavors to deal with taste bud changes.

"If everything tastes like cardboard, add a little sea salt until the flavor of the dish moves toward the front of the mouth," she said. "A little spritz of lemon juice can also make the flavor pop.

"Some people will think things taste too salty. If so, add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice and erase the (salty) taste."

If a dish tastes metallic, she says to add a little maple syrup or agave nectar, plus a little squeeze of lemon juice. Or try adding a little butter or nut cream (nuts finely ground in a blender with a little maple syrup and water).

It's also important to understand which foods the patient likes and dislikes. What tastes and textures are preferred? Katz says that before a culinary support team is established, someone should sit down with the patient and ask the questions in the preferences questionnaire in her book.

"The point is to find the person's comfort level and work within those parameters," she writes. "If someone's straight with me and admits to being a Ding Dong addict, that's fine — great, in fact! Why? Because it tells me they have a sweet tooth."

With that knowledge, she may add a dollop of sweet fruit chutney as a garnish atop savory soup. Or for someone who loves crunchy snacks like pretzel sticks, she would make sure to top that healthful soup with crisp croutons or other crunchy elements.

"And when the patient is feeling yucky, encourage them to eat small meals more frequently," she said. "Look at foods as mini-life rafts — bites and morsels that are a little intravenous drip throughout the day. Serve in small bowls or cups."

Building a patient's small-portion inventory is important. Instead of showing up with a giant pot of soup, portion it into small, freezable containers.

"Label those containers with blue painter's tape and write what it is on the tape and the date," she said. "Put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. Freezing does very little damage to nutrient value."

When the patient is nauseated from treatment, she says to offer something on the bland side and avoid foods with a strong aroma. She suggests nutrient-rich broth (a must-have in the freezer) or ginger ale with frozen grapes.

There are 150 recipes in the book, everything from main courses to desserts; teas and smoothies; condiments and side dishes. And there are beautiful soups, such as the must-have Magic Mineral Broth (a strained elixir that Katz calls her Rosetta Stone of soup) to hearty soups such as Chicken Vegetable Soup With Ginger Meatballs.

"Soups don't have to taste like hippie gruel," she said.

"I wanted to understand, when I was looking at cancer studies, how to turn the findings into something yummy at the stove. Help patients discover that great taste and great nutrition can sit at the same table. These are nutrient-dense foods that have the power of yum.

"Food can be medicine, but it has to be yummy."

• CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP WITH GINGER MEATBALLS

Yield: Four servings

For the meatballs:

1 pound ground organic dark meat turkey or chicken

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Pinch of cayenne

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup uncooked white basmati or jasmine rice

For the soup:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced small

Sea salt

1 large carrot, peeled, diced small

1 large celery stalk, diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

8 cups store-bought organic chicken broth

1/2 cup fresh or frozen sweet peas

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

Garnish: 1 lime, quartered

Procedure

For meatballs: Line rimmed baking sheet with wax paper. Combine turkey, ginger, garlic, parsley, salt, cayenne, egg and rice in bowl and mix with your hands or a spatula until well combined. Don't overwork mixture or meatballs will be tough. Wet palms of hands so the mixture doesn't stick, roll into 1-inch balls and place on prepared pan.

For soup: Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat; add onion and pinch of salt and cook until translucent, about four minutes. Add carrots, celery, garlic, ginger and 1/4 teaspoon salt; continue cooking about three minutes.

Pour in 1/2 cup broth to deglaze pot and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add remaining 7 1/2 cups broth and another 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, then gently transfer half of the meatballs into the simmering broth (refrigerate or freeze the remainder to use later). Cover and allow the meatballs to simmer 15 minutes.

Add peas and cook three minutes more, then stir in parsley and basil. Serve each bowl garnished with a wedge of lime.

Storage: Store in airtight container in the refrigerator up to five days, or freeze up to two months.

Source: "The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen" by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson (Celestial Arts, $32.50)

• EASY EGGS IN A CUP

Yield: Four servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely diced red onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

4 cups tightly packed baby spinach, washed, dried, see cook's notes

Sea salt

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Optional:

1/4 cup crumbled organic feta cheese

4 organic eggs

Pinch of freshly ground pepper

Cook's notes: To avoid a watery result, make sure the spinach is well dried before adding it to the pan. Spinach naturally gives off moisture when it cooks, so you don't want to add even more by cooking it when it's wet.

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat, then add onion and cook until translucent, about three minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds, then stir in spinach and a pinch of salt. Cook until wilted and tender, about another 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg.

Lightly grease four small ramekins with olive oil. For each ramekin, spoon in 1/4 of spinach mixture, then sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of cheese, if using. Gently crack 1 egg on top of cheese, then sprinkle with pepper and a pinch of salt.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until very little liquid remains and moves around when you shake the ramekins. Let cool for three minutes, then run a knife or an offset spatula around the inside edge of each ramekin to loosen the eggs. Using your knife or spatula to help support the eggs, carefully transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

Source: "The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen" by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson (Celestial Arts, $32.50)

• COCONUT RICE PUDDING

Yield: Six servings

1/4 cup Arborio rice

2 cups water

2 1/2 cups organic milk, see cook's notes

3/4 cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Pinch of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Optional: 1⁄4 cup raisins or currants

Blueberry Compote, see cook's notes

Cook's notes: For Blueberry Compote, combine 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange or lemon juice, 1 teaspoon minced orange or lemon zest, 1 teaspoon maple syrup and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for three to four minutes, until mixture bubbles, pulls away from the sides of the pan and becomes syrupy. To make a dairy-free version, use 2 1/4 cups of soy milk or rice milk in place of regular milk and increase the amount of coconut milk to 1 cup. The dairy-free version will take about five minutes less to cook.

Procedure

Combine rice and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Drain rice, rinse the saucepan, then put milk, coconut milk, maple syrup, cardamom and salt in saucepan and bring to boil.

Stir in rice, turn down heat to medium-low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes; during the last 10 minutes of cooking, stir more frequently to prevent sticking or scorching.

The pudding is done when the rice is tender and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan and the pudding has consistency of loose oatmeal. It will thicken as it cools.

Remove from heat and stir in orange zest, vanilla and raisins, if using. Transfer to a heatproof bowl or serving dish and serve warm or chilled. If you're serving it chilled and want to prevent a skin from forming, place a piece of parchment paper directly on the surface of the pudding and chill for at least two hours. Top with compote before serving.

Source: "The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen" by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson (Celestial Arts, $32.50