Healing with Family: Chef Matt Steiner Says Food & Friends Helped His Stroke Recovery

Chef Matt Steiner walks back and forth at a brisk pace through the kitchen and Expediting (the area where meals are packaged and prepared for home delivery). It’s been a busy day at Food & Friends and he’s wrapping up the last of the day’s volunteers.

Anyone who sees him today would have no idea that, just five years ago, Matt was re-learning how to walk and regain many of his motor skills after a major stroke.

Chef Matt Steiner in the Food & Friends kitchen

“In June of 2011, I had a major stroke,” said Matt. “I had to have open heart surgery and I had a large part of the muscle from my right leg removed. Between the surgeries and physical therapy, I was in the hospital for about six to seven weeks. I also found out during this time that I’m HIV-positive.”

Matt had to start over on a number of fronts. He had to learn to walk again. He couldn’t drive. His speech and other motor skills were impaired.

“I still have a slight stutter,” said Matt. “It’s not as bad here. I’m more comfortable speaking here so it doesn’t bother me as much.”

As part of his recovery, Matt decided to be a volunteer chef at Food & Friends.

“My mom found Food & Friends,” said Matt. “It was her idea to volunteer here to get me out of the house and be more active. If it hadn’t been for her, I would probably be a client of Food & Friends today.”

Matt started on Friday shifts with his mom and his daughter. The short shifts he started with allowed him to walk around and rehabilitate his leg. He also found a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere that would help to quicken his recovery.

“It really is like a family here,” said Matt. “I knew, working as a chef in other places, that I would never find this atmosphere anywhere else. Everyone, from the staff to the volunteers, is so friendly and supportive. And there is much less stress here than I’ve found working in restaurants. It really was ideal for me.”

Matt was hired as on-call chef in September of 2014. One year later, he was hired full time. But this job means more to him than just a paycheck.

“I would do this job even without pay,” said Matt. “Doing what I do means a lot to me. I have friends who are clients and friends who are volunteers so I take this job personally.”

It’s been a long road to recovery for Matt. And he credits Food & Friends with helping him recover faster.

“My recovery would have been a lot slower without Food & Friends,” said Matt. “Being here, getting to walk around a lot, interacting with different people and different personalities, and how nice everyone is – that made a big difference in my recovery.”

Adventures from Our New Community Dietitian

This week was full of new learning adventures for me, including a start to my new community dietitian role at Food & Friends as well as leading my first ever cooking class! The six week session of the fall 2012 Cooking Matters classes started off with a focus on healthy cooking basics and the USDA's MyPlate. Participants were eager to learn new cooking techniques, try a variety of new foods and learn how to substitute healthy ingredients into recipes.


Cooking Class participants practicing their
vegetable cutting skills.

What was on the menu? A perfect well balanced meal for a rainy fall day…turkey chili with vegetables, confetti pepper cornbread, and northwest apple salad. Our volunteer chef, Carol Levin (who will be leading the cooking demonstrations for each of the 6 weeks) started this session off with a bang…the bang of knives hitting a cutting board and a rolling pin crushing roasted, bagged walnuts. Both are an example of some of the new kitchen techniques participants learned at this week’s Cooking Matters class.

Each participant contributed to the different menu items by practicing their new-found knife skills cutting fresh garlic, apples, carrots and onions. In addition to the delicious aroma of chili filling the kitchen, there was excitement in learning about different ways each recipe could be modified to specific dietary needs or requests. Pauline, a client, learned how to use dried beans in place of the canned beans and other vegetables such as celery in place of the carrots in the turkey chili.

Participants enjoyed the meal they helped to prepare while learning more about food groups included in the meal. Dominique, our nutrition volunteer, reinforced the importance of a well-balanced meal, portion control, and physical activity. The food label was introduced and participants determined which foods are high and low sources of fat, cholesterol and sodium.

As this was my first experience leading Cooking Matters, I didn’t know what to expect. I was thrilled to see such a high interest level from all seven clients in learning more about nutrition and being involved in applying what they were learning to their current dietary habits. I’m excited to see where the next five weeks lead us as we learn more about each individual food group, try new recipes, and learn how to shop on a budget!

Brittany Lawrance RD, LDN, Community Dietitian

Brittany is a registered dietitian and has been with Food & Friends since October 2012. Her previous experience was working as a clinical dietitian on the pediatric hematology and oncology unit at Children’s National Medical Center. Brittany completed her dietetic internship in Baltimore, Maryland through Sodexo-Mid Atlantic and is a graduate of Bluffton University in Ohio. She enjoys traveling, playing tennis and softball, making crafts, and has a new found love for leading cooking class. Learn more about Food & Friends' nutrition services.

From Our Kitchen to Yours: Baked Salmon Cakes with Citrus-Cilantro Sauce

Food & Friends recognizes the role nutrition plays in helping individuals facing life-challenging illnesses. Salmon is one of the many foods incorporated into our clients' meal plans to increase their ability to effectively manage the symptoms of their illness and mitigate side-effects of treatment.

Check out the recipe below for Baked Salmon Cakes with Citrus-Cilantro Sauce, an actual dish served to clients.

The original recipe serves 6. Take a peak at how many ingredients we need to serve the same meal to 600 clients.

Serves 6 24 oz. fresh salmon 12 oz. cooked brown rice 3 tbsp. whole grain mustard 5 tbsp. reduced fat mayonnaise 2 whole eggs ½ cup fine Italian bread crumbs 1 tbsp. dried chives Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Serves 600 80 lbs. fresh salmon 40 lbs. cooked brown rice 2 qts. whole grain mustard 4 gals. reduced fat mayonnaise 15 doz. whole eggs 2 gals. fine Italian bread crumbs 6 oz. dried chives Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Method and Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut salmon into 3 inch size fillets.  Coat the salmon pieces lightly with olive oil and season lightly with salt and ground black pepper.  Place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.  Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes. 

Once the salmon has cooled to room temperature, break apart pieces of fish into a large bowl.

Add to salmon: cooked rice, mustard, eggs, bread crumbs, chives, salt and white pepper.

Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated.  Form into cakes of desired size.

Heat a non-stick sauté pan over medium heat.  Add cakes and sauté until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Place in the oven and heat throughout, about another 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, place lemon juice, orange juice, cilantro, and sugar in a sauce pan.

Place the corn starch and water in a cup and mix thoroughly.  Once the liquid in the saucepan has come to a boil, slowly add the corn starch “slurry” and whisk into the liquid.  Reduce the heat and simmer until liquid thickens slightly.  Season sauce with ground cumin and salt to taste.

To serve, place the salmon cake on a plate and spoon the sauce over the cake.

At Food & Friends we serve these salmon cakes over a bed of black bean ragu, with a side of seasoned turnip greens.

Find out how you can help us turn a recipe serving 6 people into a meal that will support hundreds of clients in their fight against life-challenging illnesses.

Mexican Fiesta: Cooking for Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner! During one of our recent client cooking classes, I found myself in the midst of new friends who were thrilled to learn some great new recipes and cooking techniques. Therefore, we had plenty of reason to celebrate, and decided to do so with a Mexican Fiesta! 

The word ‘salad’ often generates visions of iceberg lettuce topped with tomatoes, cucumber and carrots.  By now, you have realized that the Cooking Matters cooking classes are all about thinking beyond the ordinary- the word ‘salad’ in our class brings on a whole new meaning.   Instead of lettuce, Linda mixed black-eyed peas and corn for the base of this side salad.  Fresh flavors were formed when Kay skillfully chopped bright green cilantro and red onions.  Cumin added some heat, while crisp green bell pepper mellowed everything out.  Our resulting Southwestern Black-eyed Pea and Corn Salad was anything but iceberg!

Upon visiting any Mexican restaurant, patrons are typically greeted with a basket of tortilla chips and some kind of salsa.  That basket of greasy, overly salted, fried chips is a far cry from anything served up in our kitchen.  However, since you can’t have a true fiesta without chips and salsa, we chose to improve the nutrition of the chip by making our own!  Tuwanda created perfect little triangles from fresh, whole-corn tortillas.  These were simply lightly coated with non-stick spray and baked for a mere 10 minutes.  The resulting product- a perfectly light and crisp chip that would make the ultimate vehicle for our Mexican-inspired dips. 

After a quick demo from Chef Sophie, Ana easily cut and scooped the ripe avocados needed for our guacamole.  Wendy assisted in the slicing and dicing; soon we had the quintessential guacamole flavors from finely diced red onion, fresh cilantro and lime and just a touch of heat from jalapenos.  This smooth and creamy guacamole was the perfect accompaniment for our crispy chips. 

Meanwhile, Lon and Wanda worked together to create a fresh mango salsa- cool cucumber and warm jalapeno contrasted nicely in this treat for the taste buds.  Lastly, Tuwanda and Kay got to work on a cooked tomato salsa.  Since tomatoes are not yet in season, the canned version was used.  With the sweetness of cider vinegar and the warmth of cumin and cayenne, this salsa provided multiple layers of deliciousness. 

With our chips, dips and side salad ready to be gobbled up, we still needed the star of the meal.  A mixture of fresh, canned and frozen vegetables were all sautéed together as the filling for our quesadillas.  Black beans and low-fat cheese contributed both protein and texture.  Each participant chose their ideal amount of filling and got to work browning their whole-wheat tortillas for their perfect quesadilla.  With the sound of sizzling cheese and laughter from the group, I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to bring this Mexican Fiesta to an end.  I cannot wait to see (and taste) the culinary masterpieces that will be created by this wonderful group in the future!

By: Morgan Davis, RD, LDN