Easy to chew healthy recipes please!

rmartin1437

I have a hard time with vegetables and a lot of the healthy recipes I have found due to severe dental problems. I have difficulty with chewing anything hard or crunchy. I can't eat nuts, raw veggies like celery or peppers, or any chips,
I usually end up eating a ton of fruits, Greek yogurt, and oatmeal, but that's not a nutrient fulfilling diet to eat all the time so if someone could help me with that I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you.

dklibert

Have you tried roasted veggies? I recently discovered I love most veggies roasted in the oven. Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, carrots, asparagus, butternut squash; I have tried them all. Very tasty, a little soft and a little crispy brown. I hope it works for you.

I also love pureed veggie soups. You can simmer veggies in stock and when they are soft blend them smooth. I like cauliflower and leek, broccoli with a little cheese, red or yellow bell peppers, all very good.

xvolution

When you strictly control the portions and what goes in it, chicken fried rice can be healthy and very tender. Try marinating the chicken in an egg/corn starch solution for 15 minutes before frying. I do this and the chicken become so tender they fall apart just from being squeezed [something about the protein in the egg helping to break down the protein in the chicken to make it very tender]. My recipe:

* 4 cups day-old cold rice
* 4 oz marinated chicken breast, cut into thin strips
* 1 1/2 cups peas & carrots [frozen variety works best, but canned variety will be softer]
* 1 cup diced onions
* 1 Tbsp minced garlic
* 1 Tbsp minced ginger [optional]
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 2 Tbsp soy sauce [I use lite soy to reduce sodium content]
* 1 Tbsp garlic chili paste [adds a bit of spicyness to the dish]
* 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
* 1/2 tsp sugar [an alternative to MSG]
* 1 tsp white pepper
* salt to taste
* 5-7 Tbsp oil [7 normally, but you can cut it down to 5 if you have a well seasoned wok]

Add 1 Tbsp oil to the cold rice and work it entirely through it [this breaks up any clumps and oils the rice grains so they won't clump again]. In a hot pan/wok heat up 1-2 Tbsp oil. Fry the marinated chicken strips until fully cooked, then place in a bowl. Heat 3-4 Tbsp oil in the hot pan/wok. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and saute for 2-3 minutes [this adds their flavors to the oil and softens them]. Add in the peas and carrots and stir-fry until thoroughly heated. Move the mixture to the side and add the beaten eggs. Scramble them, then incorporate into the vegetable blend. Mix in the chicken pieces. Stir in the soy sauce, chili paste and oyster sauce and stir-fry until well blended. Add the rice and stir-fry for at least 5 minutes [you can call it finished once all of the rice turns a slight brown color, which means the sauce is thoroughly mixed through the dish, but longer gives it more of a fried flavor]. Add the sugar, pepper and salt and mix thoroughly. Place the finished product in a large serving bowl. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional information:
548 calories, 37g carbohydrates, 18g fat, 22g protein, 700g sodium, 88g potassium
Serving size: 2 cups

The only potentially hard thing in this dish might be the carrots, but they should be diced so small that they don't have to be chewed anyways.

As for the marinated chicken, it's just a little bit of salt & pepper, one beaten egg, enough corn starch to cover and a bit of oil to keep the chicken pieces separated.