Herbs & Spices

Drizzles and dollops are very helpful for people who are dealing with impaired taste buds as a result of treatment. Drizzles are a bit like Roman candles; they light up the palette. They’re lighter than dollops, but don’t be fooled; the parsley in this drizzle is like a whiff of pure oxygen. It’s that energizing.

This dazzling emerald green sauce is incredibly versatile.

I cooked for a lot of crazy signoras when I lived in Italy, and one of them whipped me into shape by insisting that the tomatoes for tomato sauce be put through a food mill first. For the uninitiated, it’s kind of like an old coffee mill, but with a more tightly geared hand crank. In would go the roasted tomatoes, and each crank by hand would squeeze them through holes in the side of the mill. I needed a tube of Bengay for my arms after the first batch, but the result is a far lighter sauce than any store-bought variety. If you’re not up for the workout, just lightly pulse the tomatoes in a food processor.

Avocado sure knows how to tango with mango. As a taste and texture combo, it’s one of the most refreshing two-steps I’ve come across. Mangoes are sweet, but not overly so. Avocados are creamy, but with some heft. Together, they make for a fantastic salsa that’s especially great for people dealing with a metallic taste in the mouth due to treatment. With the added perkiness of the red bell pepper, cilantro, and lime, this salsa whirls around the dance floor of your palate.

This is an absolute go-to dish for people taking pain medication. Why? Because many pain meds, especially opiates, can stop up the works, if you get my meaning. This isn’t your typical fiber-laden, tasteless concoction. (Can you say bran muffin?) In addition to prunes, the traditional remedy, this compote also includes dried apricots and cherries, and we’ve also brought ginger and cardomom to the party. The result is a delicious compote that smells incredible while it’s cooking and goes great over oatmeal or on toast. For those days when you need a kick start, this blend will nudge you in the right direction. Believe me, it works. Before cooking the compote, it’s best to soak the fruit for a few hours, or preferably overnight, so plan ahead. This is great served warm or at room temperature.

Vinaigrettes, at least the way we design them, have a double purpose. They’re a wonderful addition to kick up greens and put their taste over the top. But I also like them as marinades for fish and meats. There’s nothing like a dish that’s marinated until the meat is so tender that it practically slides off the bone and into your mouth. In Middle-Eastern cuisine, some dishes are marinated for days. Okay, so few us are that patient—and in truth it’s really not necessary. Even just a little cuddle time between a dish and these vinaigrettes/marinades is enough to make any meal succulent. I like the Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette as a marinade for fish and chicken recipes.

“Simple is as simple does,” said Forrest Gump, and when it comes to cooking, I heartily agree. This drizzle is a perfect example of FASS in action. This is the little black dress of condiments—appropriate in almost any situation. What it really comes down to is 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. But it isn’t just packed with flavor, it’s also loaded with cancer-fighting properties, including anti-inflammatory agents in the basil and antioxidants in the lemon.

The flavors in this wonderful chutney make it a good choice for brightening just about any dish.

I’ve been playing with ginger in its various forms for years. From an Ayurvedic (traditional eastern Indian medicine) perspective, ginger “fires” the body’s digestive hearth, to make the stomach and colon more efficient in metabolizing food. Here I’ve combined ginger with cinnamon’s round, sweet flavor to create a modified Chai tea with some great health benefits. Cinnamon regulates blood sugar, while both ginger and cinnamon contain tumor inhibitors. This tea is a great way to wake up both your taste buds and your tummy.

Ginger is one of your best friends during chemo, both for its flavor, which can spark even the most jaded taste buds, and for its tummy-soothing properties. A lot of people think store-bought ginger ale will do the trick, but the actual ginger content in most commerical varieties is minimal. Plus, you often get a whole host of other garbage (can you say high fructose corn syrup?) that you’d be better off without. Enter this recipe, which uses straight-up ginger syrup so you can control the amount of zing in your tonic. The frozen grapes serve the same purpose as your basic ice cubes, but also sneak a bunch of healthy minerals and phytochemicals into the brew.

This tea is a little like a mother’s gentle belly rub for a sick child, as both peppermint and ginger have qualities that relax the smooth muscles that surround the intestine.

Green tea is great for you—and many of its compounds are being studied for their anticancer benefits, but it can be astringent and bitter. Here I’ve added ginger and lemon with either honey or agave to really knock out the bitterness. The result is a refreshing lemonade that’s far healthier than the average store-bought blend. If you really want to amp up the sweetness, squeeze in a few oranges as well.

You may have heard the slogan “You’ve tried the rest; now try the best.” That’s the way I feel about this tea recipe. It was developed ages ago by the fantastic folk at the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, a renowned retreat for patients and caregivers, and they’ve been very kind in allowing me to share their recipe with you. When I am cooking at Commonweal, I often make about six quarts a day so I’ll have some on hand for anyone who comes through the door, and still, it’s never enough. The blend of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom is like a backrub in a cup. It turns me into absolute mush, it’s so good.

When treatment side effects dry out the body—and believe me, that’s a fairly common occurrence—granitas come to the rescue. Granitas are similar to Italian ices in consistency, which makes them great for people with mouth sores, and melons are full of water, so they’re great for rehydration. In fact, melons in any form are a wonderful source of fluids and nutrients. Eaten on an empty stomach (and that’s the best way to consume them, as they can cause an awful lot of tummy rumbling when combined with other food), melons require little stomach action and go right into the small intestine, allowing quick absorption of their nutrients. And here’s a fun fact: Cantaloupes are named after the Italian town Cantalupo, which means “howl of the wolf.” No telling if there’s a run on cantaloupes there whenever the moon is full …

Surprisingly, this couscous recipe has its origins in Italy. I was in Sicily, deep in the land of linguini, when out came couscous as part of our meal. “Couscous?” I thought. “That’s Moroccan, not Italian.” Well, it turns out that every invading army passing through Sicily left a bit of its cuisine behind. And couscous, despite the exotic name, is actually a tiny, beadlike pasta. I love it because it’s easy to prepare—no huge pots of boiling water necessary, just a little steam or hot broth and, in 10 minutes, voila! It’s also so soft and delicious in the mouth, like a gentle massage. Pistachios are my secret ingredient here. Most people think of them as something you only see at a ballgame or in ice cream, but their buttery texture, great vitamin content, and wonderful pale green coloring make them a great choice anytime. I love to put a dollop of Sweet and Savory Yogurt (page 189) on top of this dish. This recipe works beautifully with a drizzle of Moroccan Pesto (page 186).

Shopping for fish can be intimidating. Maybe it’s the fact that half of them are staring at you from behind the counter, as if to say, “Jeez, how did I end up here? “ So, if you’re going to do them—and yourself——justice, here’s how to rustle up a fine, fresh fillet. You need to use your eyes and your nose. Look for a cut where the flesh is moist and glistening, with no flat, brown edges. If the fish looks dull, take a pass. Same goes for any fillet with a fishy or ammonia smell. Don’t be shy about asking your fishmonger a few questions, like when the fish came in and from where. Most stores have regular shipments; knowing that schedule in advance can help you plan when to have fish. If black cod were in a band, it would be the bass player: steady, meaty, but not much of a soloist. It benefits from some jazzy front men and especially likes to swing with citrus high notes. You’ll find plenty of those riffs in this dish.

Here’s a great example of what I call culinary architecture, which entails building on a great foundation. In this case, I’m playing off what Middle Easterners call tabouli, a wonderful salad with a fantastic fresh taste that’s incredibly easy to make (and impossible to mess up). The base of any tabouli is a grain, lemon juice, parsley, and mint. That’s our building block. Then we add the ornamentation, which always emphasizes both form and function. The beans create a complete protein, the pleasing crunch (and a whole bunch of antioxidants) comes from pepper, while olives add a little healthy salt. Like any powerful piece of architecture, it’s the combination of simplicity and tasteful elegance that makes this salad so enjoyable and memorable.

This salad was inspired by one of those gorgeous, colorful Bollywood flicks that offer a feast of singing, dancing, and romance. I love Indian food, as it was my first real introduction to all things curry. Only much later did I learn that turmeric, a typical spice in curries that gives them a yellow tint, has tremendous antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties. And to think, I loved it just for its taste! Here, I was hankering for a swirl of flavors with an Indian feel. The chicken makes a great starting point because it’s full of protein and amenable to all sorts of accessorizing. In this case, the mango and raisins play delightfully off the curry spices.

I love Asian fare, but I can also see why people stay away from it in their own kitchens. It can be a bit daunting, especially all of those veggies with exotic names that most of us didn’t grow up with and don’t have the faintest idea how to prepare. That’s a shame, because most of them have a load of body-supporting phytochemicals. Here I’ve combined two powerhouses, bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. I prefer baby bok choy, as bok choy gets more bitter as it matures.

One of my favorite gatherings is the Food as Medicine conference, which brings together hundreds of nutritionally minded physicians, nurses, and other wellness professionals. I cook for the attendees, and while they often kindly tell me how much they learn from me, it definitely goes both ways. In fact, this recipe was inspired by Dr. Joel Evans, who is attracted to nutrition from both a scientific and an aesthetic viewpoint and loves to speak about the colors of food having a tangible relation to their healing qualities. There is a school of thought—and increasing scientific evidence—that the more vibrant the color, the more nutrition there is to be found in a food. As an ode to Joel, I set out to create the most colorful salad I could, using purple beets, orange carrots, and fresh mint. If I’d had a vegetable crisper instead of a box of crayons as a kid, this salad would have been the result. You can substitute lemon or lime juice for the orange juice.