When Rebecca Katz’s Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: Second Edition: Nourishing, Big-Flavor Recipes for Cancer Treatment and Recovery, a finalist in the Health & Special Diet category of the IACP Awards, came out a decade ago. the idea of cookbooks geared towards specific illnesses was still relatively new. But the success of that book as well as Katz’s One Bite at a Time: Nourishing Recipes for Cancer Survivors and Their Friends, both of which provide nurturing recipes designed to help those who are undergoing treatment and dealing with side effects as well as introduce foods that studies have shown might help in preventing the disease, was so great, that a second edition came out a little over a year ago.
Curried Chicken Salad
SERVES: 6
1 1⁄2 pounds roasted organic chicken
1 Granny Smith apple, diced into 1⁄4-inch pieces
1⁄4 cup raisins or currants
1⁄4 cup minced scallions, green part only
2 stalks celery, diced small
1⁄2 cup organic plain Greek-style yogurt
1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon curry powder
1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt
6 butter lettuce leaves, washed and dried
1⁄4 cup slivered toasted almonds, for garnish
1⁄4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Chop the chicken into 1⁄2-inch pieces and put them in a bowl. Stir in the apple, raisins, scallions, and celery. Separately, whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, curry powder, ginger, and salt. Add the yogurt mixture to the chicken and stir gently until thoroughly combined. Serve atop the lettuce leaves, garnished with the almonds and cilantro, if desired.
COOK’S NOTE: Save time by using store-bought organic roast chicken.
STORAGE: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
PER SERVING: Calories: 300; Total Fat: 11.3 g (3.1 g saturated, 3.8 g monounsaturated); Carbohydrates: 15 g; Protein: 34 g; Fiber: 2 g; Sodium: 375 mg
Orange Pistachio Quinoa
Quinoa is its own little ecosystem, containing all of the essential amino acids that we must obtain through the diet. Put another way, quinoa brings some good nutrients to the table that the body needs to begin repairing itself. Its mild taste makes it a perfect backdrop for this nicely layered crunchy/chewy portable dish, in which olive oil, citrus, vitamin-rich pistachios, and raisins dance delightfully on the taste buds, and herbs (mint, cumin, and coriander) provide a huge hit of taste and anticancer nutrients.
SERVES: 6
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes
1⁄2 cup raw pistachios
1 1⁄2 cups quinoa
2 1⁄2 cups Magic Mineral Broth (page 49) or water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1⁄2 teaspoon coriander
1⁄8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1⁄2 cup chopped fresh mint
2 scallions, both green and white parts, finely chopped
1⁄8 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of 1 orange
1 1⁄2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1⁄2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1⁄2 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Spread the pistachios in an even layer on a sheet pan and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until aromatic and slightly browned. Let cool.
Place the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse well under cold running water to remove all the resin.
In a pot, bring the broth and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Add the quinoa and cover. Decrease the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer from the heat and fluff with a fork. Spread mixture out on a sheet pan and “rake” with a fork occasionally until cooled.
Transfer the quinoa from the sheet pan to a large bowl. Stir in the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Add the mint, scallions, orange juice, orange zest, olive oil, lemon juice, toasted pistachios, and raisins. Mix well and taste; you may need a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon, or a dash of olive oil.
VARIATION: Make this a meal in a bowl by adding 1 cup of cooked chickpeas when you stir everything together.
COOK’S NOTES: Rinse, rinse, and rinse again! Quinoa is naturally coated with a bitter-tasting resin. To get rid of the resin, put the grain in a bowl of cool water, swish it around with your hand, then drain it in a fine-mesh sieve.
Quinoa is gluten free, which makes sense when you consider that botanically, it isn’t a grain at all; it’s more closely related to beets.
STORAGE: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days.
PER SERVING: Calories: 265; Total Fat: 10.3 g (1.3 g saturated, 5.9 g monounsaturated); Carbohydrates: 40 g; Protein: 7 g; Fiber: 6 g; Sodium: 435 mg
Basil Lemon Drizzle
This is the little black dress of condiments—appropriate in almost any situation. What it really comes down to is mixing lemon zest, basil, and lemon juice, and—zingo!—you have a condiment that brightens and brings out the flavor in anything you put it on top of—veggies, chicken, fish, whatever. An added bonus is the blast of cancer-fighting properties, especially basil’s anti-inflammatory agents and lemon’s antioxidant phytochemicals.
MAKES: 1⁄2 cup
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: Not applicable
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and process until well blended.
GOES WITH: Italian White Bean Soup (page 52), Minestrone (page 57), Cooling Cucumber Avocado Soup (page 62), Roasted Red Roma Tomato Soup (page 69), Creamy Broccoli and Potato Soup (page 71), Basil Broccoli (page 75), Easy Eggs in a Cup (page 100), Nana’s Egg Salad (page 102), Tuscan Farro and Bean Salad (page 111), Lemon Mustard Salmon Salad (page 115), Mediterranean Lentil Salad (page 144), Simple Tuscan Farro (page 147), and, as you might guess from this list, myriad other savory dishes.
VARIATION: For a richer drizzle that’s more like pesto, add 1⁄4 cup pecans or walnuts when you process the ingredients.
STORAGE: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days or in the freezer for 2 months.
PER SERVING: 2 tablespoons—Calories: 125; Total Fat: 14.1 g (2 g saturated, 10 g monounsaturated); Carbohydrates: 1 g; Protein: 0 g; Fiber: 0 g; Sodium: 150 mg
CREDIT:Reprinted with permission from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen 2nd Edition, copyright by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson,2016. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
