Smooth Salmon and Potato Mousse

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 26 grams of protein in one small cup, from salmon and ricotta, in a food that is cool, smooth, and free of acid.
  • Salmon brings the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, and the ricotta brings about 234 milligrams of calcium.
  • The trade-off: canned salmon carries salt, and there is no way to rinse it out of a puree. The card shows the amount; a no-salt-added can lowers it.

A boiled potato, two cans of boneless salmon, a cup of ricotta, a little milk, and a spoon of chopped dill, blended in a food processor until every flake has disappeared. It goes into four small cups and into the refrigerator for an hour, and it comes out set to the texture of a thick mousse.

It is eaten cool, with a spoon, and it tastes like a mild salmon spread without the lemon and pepper. A small cup is a meal.

Why This Mousse Is Great When the Mouth Is Too Sore to Eat

Chemotherapy and radiation to the head and neck often leave the lining of the mouth raw, a condition called mucositis. When it is bad, anything hot, rough, spicy, or sour hurts, and most people stop eating anything but sweet shakes and ice cream, because those are the only foods that do not sting.

A week of that is a week without enough protein, at the time the body needs the most it ever will, to repair the very tissue that hurts.

This mousse is built to the rule for a sore mouth: cool, smooth, and free of acid. It has no edges, no crust, and no flake. It is eaten cold from the refrigerator, which numbs a little on its own. It has no lemon, no vinegar, no tomato, and no pepper, because those are what make a savory food sting.

A Savory Food, at Last

And it is savory, which matters after a week of vanilla. It carries about 26 grams of protein in a half cup, the same as a large shake, from salmon and ricotta. Which other soft foods carry real protein, and how to keep the texture smooth without thinning the nutrition, is in Soft and Pureed Without Losing the Protein.

What Was Left Out on Purpose

Salt, pepper, lemon, onion, and garlic are all missing from this recipe, and each one is missing for a reason. Salt and pepper sting a raw mouth. Lemon and vinegar are acids and burn. Raw onion and garlic are sharp; the recipe uses dill, which is soft in flavor and does not irritate.

The potato is boiled without salt and blended in for the same reason, and the salmon’s own salt is the only seasoning.

For a mouth that is healing, a little more dill or a spoon of chopped chives can go back in first, and the pepper and lemon last. When food tastes flat or metallic during treatment, the reasons and the fixes are in When Nothing Tastes Right: Eating Through Treatment.

Make Four, Eat One at a Time

Four small cups keep four days, covered, in the refrigerator, and one comes out at a time; a sore mouth eats small amounts often, and a half cup is about the right size. A spoon of the mousse stirred into lukewarm mashed potato is a second way to eat it. It does not freeze well, because the potato turns grainy.

A small cup of smooth pale pink salmon and potato mousse with a spoon in a small cup or ramekin.

Smooth Salmon and Potato Mousse

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Boneless canned salmon, boiled potato, part-skim ricotta, milk, and dill blended until completely smooth, chilled in four small cups and eaten cool with a spoon. No acid, no salt added, no pepper: a savory soft food for a sore mouth with about 24 grams of protein in a half cup.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 4 small cup (about 1/2 cup)
Course: dinner, lunch, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 251
Ingredients Equipment Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium potato (about 6 ounces) peeled and cut in chunks
  • 2 cans (5 ounces each) boneless skinless salmon, drained
  • 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 cup 2 percent milk plus more to thin
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried

Equipment

  • Small saucepan
  • Food processor or blender
  • Four small cups or ramekins

Method
 

  1. Boil the potato in unsalted water until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and let it cool 10 minutes.
  2. Put the potato, salmon, ricotta, milk, butter, and dill in a food processor. Blend 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides, until completely smooth with no flakes or lumps. Add more milk a tablespoon at a time if it is too thick to pour slowly.
  3. Rub a spoonful between two fingers; if anything gritty remains, blend another minute or press the mousse through a fine sieve.
  4. Divide among four small cups, cover, and chill at least 1 hour. Eat cool with a spoon. Keeps 4 days in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 251kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 26gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5.5gSodium: 339mgPotassium: 475mgFiber: 0.8gSugar: 1.3gCalcium: 234mgIron: 0.9mgMagnesium: 37mgPhosphorus: 325mgCholine: 81mg

Notes

Lower-sodium version: use no-salt-added canned salmon, which cuts the sodium by about half. For a thinner texture that can be sipped, blend in milk until it pours. When the mouth begins to heal, stir in chopped chives first, then a little pepper, and lemon last. Boneless skinless canned salmon blends smoothest; salmon with bones and skin needs a full 3 minutes and a sieve. Cottage cheese blended smooth works in place of ricotta with more protein and more salt. The mousse does not freeze well.

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Gluten Free

Salmon, potato, ricotta, milk, and dill are naturally free of gluten. For people with celiac disease, check the canned salmon for added broth or flavorings and the ricotta for modified food starch. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any brand.

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