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What does “feel-good food” mean? It depends on who you ask. That’s why, each month, our Feel-Good Food Plan—with nourishing recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new. For September, editorial operations manager Kate Kassin is talking digestive issues and sharing her favorite podcast.
My mom cooked dinner almost every night when I was growing up, so we rarely got takeout. When we did, it was probably Chinese. My mother is third-generation Chinese-American and is chronically in the mood for Sichuan wontons, stir-fried noodles, beef chow fun, and mapo tofu. Whether it’s genetic or environmental, I inherited this perpetual craving early on, and over the years, I’ve clung to it to make my own spaces feel like home.
My Irritable Bowel Syndrome has complicated things. In adulthood, my body developed an intolerance to many ingredients omnipresent in Chinese cooking—the gluten in wonton wrappers, the garlic and onion in stir-fries and braises, vegetables like mushrooms, snow peas, and asparagus. As is common to many people with IBS, I feel my best when I’m following a low-FODMAP diet. This means avoiding certain carbohydrates, legumes, alliums, and stone fruits.
It’s a humbling reality for someone who works at a food magazine, regularly tasting recipes in the test kitchen and trying new restaurants around the country. But instead of lamenting over what I can’t eat, I try to celebrate what I can. A dietary challenge to navigate at work or in restaurants has actually become inspiration for my cooking at home.
September’s Feel-Good Food Plan leans into that lemons-into-lemonade mindset. Our headliner, Black Vinegar Chicken With Radishes, fills the hole of the takeout dishes I love but can’t often eat, while the other recipes are equally approachable for anyone with digestive issues. And if you have a stomach of steel, stick around—there’s lots of comfort to be found below.
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September’s Feel Good Recipes
Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, emphasis on unofficial. It technically continues until the end of the month. If you ask me, this is the best stretch of the season. The temperatures are still warm, the days are still long, the produce is still gorgeous. Yet, I can finally ease up on my AC and turn on my oven without the fear of melting my studio apartment. Here’s a recipe for each week, to gently ease you into fall.
The takeout-style stir-fry I’m perpetually craving, without the alliums that upset my stomach. Plump cubes of boneless chicken thighs are seared alongside radishes, then everything gets tossed in a tangy-umami sauce of black vinegar, soy sauce, and lots of fresh ginger. Typically snacked on raw, radishes become sweeter and mellower when cooked. I like this stir-fry best piled on a mound of rice with a handful of cilantro on top, but I won’t blame you if you opt for noodles or eat it solo.
When this recipe from cookbook author Lara Lee was being cross-tested in the test kitchen, I came to the office every single time to eat it for lunch. Gado-gado is an Indonesian dish that celebrates vegetables with a savory peanut sauce. This version also has tofu and egg, so it's hearty enough to constitute a meal. My favorite part is that it’s meant to be adapted—I remove the garlic cloves, swap in whatever vegetables I have handy, and amp up the sambal oelek to turn up the heat. Take my advice and do your future self a favor—make extra peanut sauce to have for the rest of the week. It’s great on grilled chicken, as a dip for raw vegetables, or to drizzle on top whatever leftovers are in the fridge.
September always signals that we’re approaching the Jewish High Holidays. While this year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur actually fall at the beginning of October, it’s never too early to start menu planning. I make this Roasted Salmon with Citrus Salsa Verde for every holiday without fail. It’s easy to scale to feed a crowd, employs ingredients like herbs and citrus that I usually have on hand, and can even be served at room temp. The fish cooks in a low oven for about 30 minutes, which means you’ll have time to assemble the rest of the meal and socialize with your guests. Plus, the citrus salsa verde makes for a great addition to anything else on the table, especially crispy potatoes.
Imagine my delight when senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic announced she was working on a gluten-free baking guide. While it’s hard to pick a favorite child, there is one recipe I make the most: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies. The nubby oats and toasted pecans make them nourishing enough to eat as an afternoon snack, while the chunks of dark chocolate justify their place as a dessert. I make mine with dried cranberries instead of dried cherries to appease my sensitive tummy, and while the flaky salt is marked optional, I like to hit mine with a generous sprinkle. If you also live alone and want to save a few for a rainy day, the baked cookies freeze well and taste divine straight out of the microwave, toaster oven, or air fryer.
More Feel-Good Finds for the Month
I went cold turkey on broths and soups when I started to avoid alliums in my cooking. I struggled to find any store-bought options that didn’t list onion and garlic as their top ingredients, and I found whatever I made at home to be downright bland. That’s why I was thrilled to find OWL Venice, a brand that offers bone broth elixirs (as well as “mylkshakes” and supplements) free of allergens and suited for people with digestive issues. The broths, which contain no alliums, are available in organic beef, bison, chicken (my personal favorite), turkey, and vegan varieties. With ingredients like ginger, fennel, Swiss chard, turmeric, lavender, and apple cider vinegar, they’re tasty enough to sip like a tea. But they also make a great base for soups and grains.
Matcha has become my morning nonnegotiable. I don’t do it for the jolt of energy as much as I love the ritual of making it at home. I whisk my matcha powder (my current go-to is Rocky’s Matcha) with warm water, froth up some almond milk, and add in my Anima Mundi product of choice. These days, that’s either this butterfly pea flower, which offers a beautiful blue hue and some believe to support the nervous system, or this dirty rose chai collagen booster, which I mostly do for the taste (though sure, I’ll take any beauty benefits it supposedly promises). I love both products so much that I even bring them along when I travel—they’re equally great in chia pudding, overnight oats, or tea.
I’m a chronic podcast listener, but the one I’m most loyal to is Second Life, a podcast that spotlights women and the career changes they’ve made to get to where they are now. Hilary Kerr, the co-founder of Who What Wear, interviews women across industries from fashion to food to design. She asks them what they studied in school, what pieces of advice they’ve received, what mistakes they’ve made along the way. I listen religiously on Monday morning’s no matter who the interviewee is. Some of my recent favorite episodes include Kim and Vanessa Pham (sisters and co-founders of the Asian pantry brand Omsom), Amy Crady Weiss (CEO and co-founder of sleep brand Hatch), and Natalie Holloway (co-founder of fitness brand Bala)
See you all next month when June Kim, Bon Appétit’s head of digital video, will host October’s Feel-Good Food Plan—with some help from her baby.