There may be times when the texture of foods must be modified to improve your ability to eat it. Softening meats, adding liquid to solids or thickening thin liquids are common menu modifications which make eating well easier during some opportunistic infections. Here are some ideas to help you create menus which are flavorful, as well as easy to chew and swallow. Included are tips for soups , meats, fish and poultry , vegetables or desserts .
Soups There are several ways to thicken pureed soups to a desired consistency.
The quality of your stock will affect the texture as well as the taste of your soup. A homemade veal stock has a great deal of natural collagen and gelatin that gives it a terrific amount of body. The next best thing to making it yourself is buying fresh, frozen stock from a butcher that you know and trust the freshness of the product they are selling. Other easy ways to thicken your soups are to add pureed vegetables with mashed potatoes or pureed rice, tapioca, day old bread, or cornstarch slurry. Add 2 cups pureed vegetables and 1 cup mashed potatoes or pureed rice for every quart of stock.