Ginger Chicken Meatballs in a Coconut Turmeric Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine ground chicken with egg, sesame oil. Grate in two cloves of garlic and 1 tbsp of ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. If it’s still a little wet, add some flour to firm up the mixture.
3. Roll mixture into about 12 meatballs.
4. Place each meatball in a baking dish lined with parchment. Add sweet potato pieces to the same dish.
5. Add remaining garlic and ginger to a blender. Add lime, cilantro, turmeric, coconut milk and stock.
6. Blend until smooth. Pour over the meatballs into the baking dish. Cover with some aluminum foil or sheet of parchment.
7. Bake for 60 min. Serve meatballs with sauce over rice or quinoa.

·         Treatments for head and neck cancer can cause difficulty with chewing and swallowing, and may cause dry mouth. This can make eating regular texture foods difficult, especially meats like chicken, fish and red meat.

·         Meats are a great source of protein and B vitamins. Protein is important for tissue repair and B vitamins are required for red blood cell production and help our body to use energy from food.

·         Follow these strategies to help make eating more manageable:

•    Have soft moist foods

•    Modify the texture of food to minced or pureed because this requires less chewing

•    Cook meat in a sauce to add moisture when you have dry mouth

•    Enjoy small minced pieces to help make it easier to swallow, and less likely for the food to get stuck in the throat

​