By Victoria Brown: January is Thyroid Awareness Month and Pete McGahey, Executive Chef at Beverley Hospital, and David Gauvin, long time chef at Addison Gilbert Hospital, both accepted the challenge to create special recipes using ingredients that are helpful for reducing inflammation. Why? “Foods that are helpful for reducing inflammation are thought to be helpful at preventing or reducing symptoms of chronic disease, including thyroid disorders,” according to Ginger McFarlane, RD, Clinical Nutrition Manager at Northeast Hospital Corporation.

Who would have thought that this delicious poached salmon dish could be so good for you? They use salmon, which is high in omega three;; and lemon and lime which are rich in vitamin C in the poaching liquid. They serve the salmon with homemade pasta that has been infused with turmeric, which is thought to reduce inflammation by lowering histamine levels. They also cook the pasta with extra virgin olive oil, which contains vitamin A; spinach, which has a lot of vitamin C; and garlic, which has a sulphuric compound that is said to be anti-inflammatory.

McGahey uses a court bouillon to poach the salmon. Court bouillon is a stock most often used for poaching seafood and other delicate meats that don’t take long to cook. Court-bouillon roughly translates as ‘short-boiled liquid’ and differs from other stocks in that it is made freshly and quickly. It includes wine, vinegar or citrus - which all add flavor and help to draw the added flavors of the aromatics out more quickly.

The ingredients for court bouillon vary, but McGahey’s is quite traditional, including a mirepoux (carrot, celery and onion), herbs, lemon, white wine, garlic, salt and pepper. The idea, McGahey explains, is that “you get all that great flavor into your poaching liquid so that it can then transfer into the fish you’re about to cook in it.” Poaching fish is also a very healthy way to cook, as it doesn’t require any oil or fat. As Gauvin says, “you’re not adding any extra fat, all you’re really doing is adding flavor to it.”

The end result - a meal like this, made with foods that are high in omega three and vitamins A and C, is believed to reduce inflammation.