Good food,
gentler cooking.
Low-fibre recipes for people living with bowel cancer. Familiar food, thoughtful preparation, and something to look forward to.
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Vanilla panna cotta with stewed apple20 min Breakfast
Appetite is often at its lowest first thing, so these are small, soft and quick, and none of them asks you to stand for long. There is a page of toast here on purpose. Buttermilk pancakes for the mornings you want breakfast to feel like breakfast, semolina with stewed apple for the mornings you want something warm and unbothered, and melon and banana with yoghurt for the good ones.
BreakfastButtered brioche with warm tinned peaches
A breakfast that tastes like more effort than it takes
BreakfastButtermilk pancakes with golden syrup and warm pear
A soft stack for the mornings you want breakfast to feel like breakfast
BreakfastCoyoacán, 1955Frida Kahlo's smoked salmon bagel
The good-appetite breakfast that still keeps every rule
BreakfastMelon and ripe banana with smooth yoghurt and honey
For a morning when appetite has turned up on its own
BreakfastSemolina with stewed apple
Milk pudding done properly, with a ribbon of stewed apple
BreakfastWhite toast, done properly
The page for the days when nothing more ambitious is possible
Lunch
The middle of the day is where this diet does its best work. Broths and sieved soups that go down easily, toasted things under béchamel, bowls of pasta with butter and Parmesan, a whipped feta that answers the question of what to eat with pitta now that hummus is out. Most of these take twenty minutes, and half of them freeze.
LunchAvgolemono, the Greek lemon and rice soup
The Greek soup that turns silky without any cream
LunchButternut and carrot soup with a cream swirl
Smooth, deep orange, and freezer-friendly
LunchCauliflower cheese, florets only
The stalk left in the compost, not the dish
LunchCheese and potato bake
Sliced potato, baked slowly under a cheese sauce
LunchChicken and rice broth in a mug
One small pan, and a mug instead of a bowl
LunchClear dashi with silken tofu and egg ribbons
Silken tofu and egg ribbons in a broth you can see through
LunchCream cheese and Marmite toast fingers
A thin scrape under a thick, generous layer
LunchCream of cauliflower soup with a cheese crouton
The one soup in this book that hospitals genuinely disagree on
LunchCream of chicken soup
The soup this book returns to more than any other
LunchTuri, 1932Gramsci's soft cheesy polenta
A spoon dish, not a sliceable one
LunchHam and cheese toastie with a cup of gravy
Golden and soft, with a mug of gravy for dipping
LunchSoho, 1852Karl Marx's beetroot and potato soup
A colour no amount of styling could invent
LunchMacaroni cheese for one
A small dish with a properly golden top
LunchPasta with butter and Parmesan
The sick-day pasta
LunchPastina in brodo
Tiny pasta in a clear golden broth, for the days when nothing else appeals
LunchPoached chicken mayonnaise sandwich
A filling that behaves in a lunchbox
LunchPotato and leek velouté
A soup that argues its own case for the sieve
LunchPotted salmon on thin white toast
Make it once, eat it for three days
LunchWronke, 1917Rosa Luxemburg's spinach and potato soup
Blended within the minute, before the green has a chance to fade
LunchSmooth tomato soup with cream
A store-cupboard soup dressed up with cream
LunchParis, May 1968The Boulevard Saint-Michel croque monsieur
Ham and cheese under a soft blanket of béchamel, no crusts to fight
LunchCoyoacán, 1956Trotsky's clear chicken noodle broth
Ginger and lemongrass for flavour, gone before the bowl is filled
LunchTuna mayonnaise in a soft white wrap
Cold, soft-sided, and ready in ten minutes
LunchWelsh rarebit on crustless white toast
Not the same thing as cheese on toast
LunchWhipped feta with warm white pitta
A bowl for scooping, no chickpeas required
Dinner
Written for one or two, and for evenings when a second pan is one too many. The British comfort dishes are here with the onion melted into the gravy and the mash pushed through a sieve. The Italian ones need almost no adapting at all. The fish is skinned and boned before it reaches you, and the rice and noodle bowls are what half the world eats when it is unwell.
DinnerBaked chicken parmigiana
Breaded, baked, and finished under a blanket of cheese
DinnerBangers and mash with onion gravy
Plain sausages and sieved mash under a gravy the onion disappears into
DinnerBattered fish with swede and carrot mash
A proper fish supper, with a root-vegetable mash standing in for chips and peas
DinnerLondon, 1935Beatrice Webb's chicken and leek pie
A creamy filling under a lid of golden puff pastry
DinnerBeef ragù with white tagliatelle
A slow sauce that freezes in neat portions
DinnerChicken and ginger congee
A long, slow simmer that needs almost nothing from you
DinnerChicken and ham bake in white sauce
A twice-cooked family favourite, mild enough for a difficult week
DinnerChicken and potato stew with creamed courgette
One pot, with courgette standing in for the cabbage
DinnerChicken blanquette
A pale, creamy stew from one pot of poaching liquid
DinnerChicken cacciatore with passata
Chicken thigh braised slowly in a deep red passata sauce
DinnerCottage pie for two with silky mash
Two small dishes, one for tonight and one for the freezer
DinnerCreamy chicken and Parmesan tagliatelle
For the nights when twenty minutes is what you have
DinnerCreamy chicken and white wine casserole
Wine cooked right down, cream at the end, everything soft enough for a fork
DinnerFish goujons with a smooth tartare sauce
Oven-baked, so the crumb turns gold without a pan of hot oil to watch
DinnerFish pie for two
A creamy filling under mash sieved properly silky
DinnerGreek lemon chicken and potatoes
One tray, into the oven, and mostly left alone
DinnerLondon, 1913Ho Chi Minh's silken tofu and ginger broth
A light, plant-based bowl for a quiet appetite
DinnerStockholm, 1938Kollontai's steamed white fish with soy butter
Ten minutes, one plate, barely any washing-up
DinnerLemon sole in brown butter with silky mash
The classic bistro plate, home-sized
DinnerPink pasta with passata and mascarpone
Ten minutes of sauce while the pasta boils
DinnerPotato gnocchi in sage-infused butter
The book's one weekend project
DinnerPrawn and passata linguine
For the nights when the freezer prawns are the plan
DinnerQuorn bolognese with white spaghetti
The meat-free sauce that still needs the full simmer
DinnerRoast chicken thighs with gravy and mash for two
A small Sunday roast, with nothing on the plate that needs cutting twice
DinnerSaffron risotto
The pot that turns from white rice to solid gold
DinnerSalmon and potato fishcakes with lemon butter
Freeze the extra two uncooked, ready for a day when the stove feels like too much
DinnerSalmon in a paper parcel with butter sauce
One parcel, and a sauce that makes itself out of the juices
DinnerSemolina gnocchi alla romana
Rounds of baked semolina, crisp on top and soft underneath
DinnerSlow-braised beef with swede and carrot mash
A long, slow braise that needs almost nothing from you once it is in the oven
DinnerSpaghetti carbonara
The twenty-minute dinner that happens to be exactly right
DinnerSteamed cod in white sauce
A dish that asks almost nothing of you, or your stomach
DinnerTeriyaki salmon with steamed rice
Two small pans, four ingredients, glossy and quick
DinnerBao'an, 1936The Long March egg fried rice
The way to use up yesterday's rice
DinnerToad in the hole for two
A well-risen batter, whole sausages, a jug of smooth gravy
DinnerUdon in dashi with a soft egg
A quiet bowl for a low-appetite evening
Puddings
Cream, milk, eggs, sugar and white flour are all on the list, which means nearly the whole nursery canon is too. Rice pudding with a burnt sugar top, crème caramel, a syrup sponge for two, chocolate pots. Where colour was missing, sieved fruit brings it back: a raspberry coulis with every seed left in the sieve, a mango fool, a strawberry milk jelly. Every one of these is a way of eating more without noticing.
PuddingBlackcurrant jelly with cream
Set with gelatine, not a packet of crystals
PuddingBread and butter pudding without the fruit
Layered crustless white bread in a soft egg custard, no dried fruit anywhere in it
PuddingChocolate pots
Hot cream, dark chocolate, and nothing else to get in the way
PuddingCrème caramel
Sugar taken past the point that feels safe, and a custard baked low around it
PuddingKey lime pie for two
A no-bake filling that sets itself, no oven needed
PuddingLemon curd tarts
A quick stovetop curd, with no zest anywhere near it
PuddingLemon posset
Three ingredients and three hours in the fridge do the rest
PuddingMango fool
Ripples of orange through plain whipped cream
PuddingMatcha and white chocolate pots
Green tea and white chocolate, set softly in a glass
PuddingRice pudding with a burnt sugar top
A skin from the oven, then a crust from the grill
PuddingSteamed syrup sponge for two
Syrup at the base, a soft crumb, and custard poured over the top
PuddingSticky toffee-style pudding without the dates
A dark syrup-sweetened sponge under a butterscotch sauce, no dates in sight
PuddingStrawberry milk jelly
Real strawberries, not a packet cube
PuddingVanilla blancmange
A softly set milk pudding, no eggs and no gelatine involved
PuddingVanilla ice cream with a sieved raspberry coulis
Red against white, and nothing else in the glass
- Pudding
Vanilla panna cotta with stewed apple
A softly set cream, and the sharpness of stewed apple to cut it
PuddingWarm banana custard
Ripe banana warmed through a bowl of proper custard
PuddingWarm tinned peaches with ice cream and caramel
Hot fruit and cold ice cream, brought together with a spoon of caramel
Snacks and small bakes
Little and often is the rule during treatment, and these are the things to keep within reach of the chair. Cheese scones and cheese straws from the freezer, toast fingers under the grill, a smooth cheese dip with white breadsticks, banana lollies for a day when only cold will do, and cornflake clusters for anyone missing popcorn.
SnacksBanana and honey ice lollies
For appetite that only shows up for something cold
SnacksCheese scones
Savoury, fast, and best split open while still hot
SnacksCheese straws
A twist of pastry that keeps for days in a tin
SnacksHoney-butter cornflake clusters
The popcorn stand-in
SnacksMarmite and cheese melts
For the reader who already knows which side they are on
SnacksPlain scones with jam and cream
The cream tea, stripped down to what actually matters
SnacksSmooth cheese dip with breadsticks
What stands in for hummus and crudités on this diet
Drinks
On the days when a plate is too much, a glass is a meal. The fortified milkshake is the most useful recipe in the book, and it says on the page how much energy and protein it carries so you know why it matters. The others are here for pleasure, warmth, and the one bad afternoon when a mug of Marmite broth is the only thing that appeals. On the mornings the chest is bad, the first thing drunk in this kitchen is a bitter tea from a gourd through a metal straw, strained, which is not offered here because it is an acquired taste and nobody acquires it on purpose.
DrinksBanana and honey shake
Two spoons of yoghurt and a ripe banana, blended smooth
DrinksExtra-rich hot chocolate
Melted chocolate rather than a spoon of powder
DrinksFortified milkshake
The one drink in this book with its numbers stated plainly
DrinksStrained melon juice
Ripe melon, blended and pushed through a sieve
DrinksTinned peach and ice cream shake
Blended smooth, then sieved for good measure
DrinksWarm Marmite broth
Little more than stock, Marmite and butter
Bases
Five sauces and a stock that the rest of the book leans on. Make the white sauce once and you have macaroni cheese, fish pie and a croque monsieur in your hands. The stock is strained twice and frozen in cubes for the days when a few spoonfuls of something savoury is all you want. None of them takes more than a quarter of an hour except the stock, which takes an afternoon and mostly looks after itself.
BasicsCheese sauce
The white sauce, five minutes further on
BasicsDouble-strained chicken stock
The stock every low-appetite freezer should have a tray of
BasicsPouring custard
A jug of proper custard, ready for whatever pudding needs it
BasicsSmooth gravy
A gravy without a single stray fibre in it
BasicsSmooth tomato sauce
Passata, garlic and a little sugar, simmered down
BasicsWhite sauce, the master recipe
One ratio the rest of the book leans on
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