Hi vegan community!
My wife is post-op oral surgery including a gum graft has been told by her periodontist that she must follow this soft food diet for the next 3 weeks.
She has been a vegan for probably about 8 or 9 years at this point (for the record I am not). In part due to her vegan lifestyle and food allergies including carrots, celery, dairy, peanut butter, and gluten (intolerance), I’m finding it hard to find some recipes for her that still maintain a high protein diet for her recovery while still being nutritious in general.
At this point I have made her butternut squash soup, rice, smashed sweet potatoes and overcooked broccoli. She’s also been snacking on mashed bananas and peas. Anyone with thoughts or ideas as to think I can bulk cook for her for the next 3 weeks would be nice – even if it’s just one lunch and one dinner meal. I just want her to recover well and healthily.
by FinalSever
32 Comments
When I had trouble swallowing, our best option was curry + immersion blender. If there is any curry she normally likes with her allergies, I would make that and blend it up.
Try adding some silken tofu to the soups you’re making — as a non-vegan, if you’ve never cooked with it before this is an easy place to start. Basically drop it in and blend it up!
I love this recipe! https://thebigmansworld.com/healthy-fluffy-flourless-apple-pie-pancakes/
I also love blending half a block of silken tofu with banana, berries, spinach, and ground flax.
Smoothies with protein powder would be good. If she can eat overcooked broccoli she can probably have tofu (unless it’s fried) maybe in a tofu scramble or curry. You can also add puréed beans, lentils or tofu to almost any soup to increase the protein. I hope she gets better soon, mouth injuries are rough.
How about a mini Thanksgiving-style plate?
Mashed potatoes and vegan butter or gravy
Stuffing made from white gluten-free bread, broth, spices, vegan butter, onions, other veggies like finely diced mushrooms or greens, or other add-ins that she enjoys (no celery)
Pureed peas, butternut squash, and/or sweet potatoes/yams
A vegan protein like tofu
Pumpkin pie for dessert?
Quinoa is very high in protein and it’s on the list.
Others have already mentioned, but tofu, particularly silken. You can blend silken tofu into soups, it will make them super creamy and it’s high in protein.
Also, beans! White beans are usually softer, but also any other bean. Chickpeas blended work too (as hummus, as part of a sauce, as a blended soup…).
These are more side dishes, but I immediately thought of veganized colcannon and Japanese-style potato salad (made with mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables).
Another *really* easy thing to make in one huge batch is Japanese curry. I just buy the premade cubes and follow the instructions on the box, using medium-firm tofu for protein (pretty soft, though you could go even softer if needed). You can cook the veggies down really soft and it all tastes great.
ETA: For protein, how many of her meals can you just straight up blend or crumble tofu into?
•Pasta bake with a blended veggie sauce.
•Layered taco dip w/appropriate dipping bread ( gluten free naan?)
•Risotto: mushroom, asparagus, etc.
•Burrito/Quesadilla
•Soup
•Puddings: cornstarch base, avocado base, or silken tofu base
• Oatmeal & Oatmeal breakfast cookies
•Cornbread (most online recipes are GF or easily adaptable, easily vegan as well I make mine in a hot skillet)
Mushroom steak?
Baba ghanoush, hummus, ratatouille, polenta or grits, refried bean and vegan cheese burritos in soft corn tortillas, chia pudding or rice pudding, and for a protein packed desert I know there’s a million recipes for silken tofu chocolate pudding out there!!
Also [this guy](https://www.mississippivegan.com/high-protein-vegan-meals) has a ton of recipes that look fantastic and note how many grams of protein are in each dish!! Best of luck dude 🙂
I had tooth extractions and ate a lot of riced cauliflower. If she’s craving something sweet you could make a sticky mango rice pudding with coconut milk!
If you need something very gentle on the stomach/mouth, I am currently having upper GI issues that have had me in and out the hospital. My go-to meal that is super easy to handle is the Korean blended rice/pine nut porridge, jatjuk–easy to make, mild, and comforting. It also keeps in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave.
[https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/jatjuk](https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/jatjuk)
Dal (red lentils) with allowed veggies and some yummy Indian spices. The longer it simmers the tastier!
How about these? Some recipes call for carrots and celery, but you could just leave those out.
[Lentil Stew](https://biancazapatka.com/en/best-vegan-lentil-soup/) (you could add smoked tofu, or marinated TVP chunks)
[Moroccan Chickpea Stew](https://biancazapatka.com/en/eggplant-chickpea-stew/#recipe)
[Mushroom and Lentil Ragu](https://biancazapatka.com/en/mushroom-lentil-ragu/)
[White Bean Stew](https://biancazapatka.com/en/vegan-white-bean-stew/) or any other Greek Giant bean stew
[My favourite Indian Mushroom Curry with peas and cashews](https://holycowvegan.net/mushroom-matar-mushrooms-peas-creamy-sauce-one-pot-30-minutes/)
Wishing your wife a swift recovery!
quinoa is a complete protein. Batch cook that with broccoli and sweet potatoes with a silken tofu cream sauce. Curry with a cashew sauce. Chia pudding with vegan protein yogurt or milk. Kodiak cakes. Lots of tofu. Miso soup.
Some tofu should be a good option. Raw would be the softest but you could definitely warm it up and throw some sauce on it. Maybe add some rice noodles.
Another soft protein option would be Morning star crumbles. You could make her a microwaved quesadilla with vegan cheese and crumbles (and maybe some mushed black beans)
In my rice maker, I throw in the rice, broccoli and tofu (along with seasons- minced dried garlic/onion and a bouillon cube) and let them cook together. every thing comes out nice and soft
I just made a split pea miso soup this week that didn’t even make it to the fridge-every one had seconds and thirds. Black bean soup is good.
Owyn protein shakes, some mandarin oranges (the ones in juice are suppperrr soft and you can buy a big container)
ETA: jello! Amazon has some good options and I ate a shit load of it after my surgery
‘’Overcooked veggies” on top of mashed potatoes
1. Silken Tofu Chocolate Pudding
2. Blended Red Lentil Soup
3. Quinoa Porridge
4. Blended Chickpea and Potato Curry with rice
5. Rice Pudding
6. Moist Black Bean Brownies
7. White Bean and Potato Soup
8. Protein Smoothie Bowls
9. Mashed Edamame with Seasonings
10. Cauliflower Mashed with Nutritional Yeast
11. Soft Polenta with White Beans
12. Blended Split Pea Soup
13. Soft Oatmeal with Hemp Hearts
14. Sweet Potato and Tahini Mased
16. Blended Broccoli “Cheddar” Soup (with nutritional yeast or vegan cheese) my personal fav. I am crazy about this soup.
17. Hummus
18. protein shake with banana, vanilla , silken tofu
19. Soft Tofu Scramble
20. Pureed Butternut Squash Risotto
21. Mushroom and Rice Soup
22. Mashed Avocado with Nutritional Yeast
23. Blended Bean and Rice Bowl
24. Soft-Cooked Pasta with Pureed Tomato Sauce
25. Applesauce with Hemp Seeds
26. Coconut Chia Pudding
27. Blended pea soup
28. All kinds of bean dips
30. creamy vegan potato leek soup
That makes me so sad 😭
Texturised vegan protein (soymeat) and tofu to the rescue!
Musrhooms, mushrooms, mushrooms!
B E A N S
A meal i enjoyed was polenta with confetti bean salad. You can lightly mash the beans to make them softer. I would buy the premade shelf stable polenta and lightly fry it, not enough to make it crisp, just to warm it. I like foods made with Just Egg. It’s delicious as an omelet with melted violife cheese.
Mashed potatoes made with almond milk and plant butter. Tomato soup made with marinara sauce and coconut milk.
Rice bowls with soft cooked vegetables, beans, tofu, and salsa!
Absolutely add some vegan protein powder in
I had a minor oral surgery a few years ago, and unfortunately lived off of protein shakes. There are some great vegan options out there, though! I liked the ones that had a thinner consistency (more like milk) and a strong flavor to cover up the protein taste.
I’m not sure where chia would fall here, but chia puddings might be a good breakfast option. You could make them with a protein drink, protein powder, silken tofu, or a high protein vegan yogurt to up the protein content. Similarly chocolate tofu pudding/mousse.
when i had my wisdom teeth removed, i found it easier to eat more processed foods to be honest. my oral surgeon told me that it was more important to get enough calories in order to heal.
i ate a lot of vegan mac and cheese (there are gf kinds that are still pretty good) with added broccoli or peas and (overcooked) rice with broccoli/peas. plus vegan yogurt (siggis brand has higher protein), vegan chocolate pudding, apple sauce, and protein shakes (spouts has great vegan protein powders that don’t have that chalky taste to them. over the holidays i impulse-bought their apple cinnamon one and it is SO GOOD with just soy milk even. they also have a matcha one!). Oh and also pancakes! birch benders makes a gf pancake mix. pancakes with some just egg was life saving when i felt repulsed by all the liquids lol. you could do tofu scramble, im just not a fan of the texture.
i also recommend fruit-based popsicles (i suppose these could be homemade???).
as far as homemade food, only thing was basically different types of roasted veggies blended into soup with tofu and/or cashews to make them creamy and add protein.
Although my surgery was different, just wanted to put it out there that i found anything with lemon, tomato, or basically any acid would burn extremely badly and the pain was awful. I also found oatmeal, quinoa, and chia pudding way too “grainy”, and it was a concern they could get stuck in the wound. not sure if this applies to your wife though.
wishing her a speedy recovery! 3 weeks sounds so tough.
Heaps of pho and lots of silken tofu
Where are the beans?
You can add beans like cannellini to any “cream of” soup. It adds protein, creaminess, fibre etc.
Roast any combination of veggies until soft. I like tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, onion, and squash. Dump it all in a blender with broth and a block of silken tofu. You can also blend in any soft beans like cannellini or Lima.
You could make a plate of crustless sandwiches on a soft gluten-free bread to have around.
– There is a company called Un-meat that makes a [luncheon meat substitute](https://meetunmeat.us/product/luncheon-meat/) that I guess is supposed to emulate SPAM. A couple times I have mashed it up with a fork and mixed it with vegan mayo and a little mustard, finely diced onions, diced pickles, chopped olives, herbs and spices, whatever. It makes a pretty tasty little soft sandwich spread. You could do that with some vegan cheese, tomatoes, or whatever she likes.
– Vegan cream cheese with peeled and thinly sliced cucumbers
– Tofu “egg” salad (really delicious and there are lots of recipes online)
– Lentil sloppy joes
– Avocado, tomato, and cheese
Etc
Also, definitely get her some vegan ice cream. 🙂
I had 4 bone/gum graft oral surgeries (1 quadrant per year). I’m not vegan; however, most days I eat WFPB. Eating natto made a huge difference for my oral health and oral surgery recovery. The hygienist at the periodontist office thinks that I’m their star patient. It sounded like a lot of patients go back to having deep gum pockets. I only go there for cleaning twice a year now.