Drbabs, wonderful suggestions! Adore panna cotta and the squash flan is the kind of substantial nutrition I crave right now. Am going to make that tonight. Thanks for the kind thoughts!

Thanks so much, all! JessieLK, the cauliflower soup sounds delicious and I will save that for when I am doing more chewing. Mr. Vittles, I love split pea soup, and will try your curried version when I move up to warm foods. Campagnes, your avocado pudding (sans crust & whipped cream) is currently chilling in the fridge! Very nice, indeed. Pierino, how could I have forgotten about vichyssoises? Great idea.

You can serve custard at room temperature. Check out my butternut squash flan on this site. It's nursery food practically. Merrill also posted a jelly using black tea and aargesi just posted a lady grey tea panna cotta, all of which can be served cold. Good luck and speedy recovery.

Vichysoisses was created to be a cold soup. Key components being potatoes and leeks pureed with chicken stock.

(forgot to add - gajar halwa can be served cold)

One of my four-year-old niece's favorite foods: avocado pudding. 2 avocados, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 5 oz. sweetened condensed milk whirled around in the food processor and chilled for an hour or so. Sometimes her mama folds in 1 1/2 cups whipped cream and serves it in a graham cracker pie crust. Not my favorite thing, but half of our family devours it.

If you like carrots, Indian carrot pudding (gajar halwa) might be nice.. it's one of my favorite desserts. 1 lb. grated carrots, sauteed in ghee (or regular butter) for 3 minuts.. then simmered with 1/2 cup water for about 5 minutes or until liquid is cooked off.. add 1 cup milk and 1 tsp. cardamom pods.. cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.. then fish out the pods and stir in 1/2 cup sugar (with 2 tbsp. each raisins, almonds and pistachios under normal circumstances).

Is warm food out of the question? If not, then I'd go with some Curried Split Pea soup: 16 oz of green split peas, 4 cups of of low-sodium chicken stock, 1 cup water, 3/4 cup onion chopped, 1/4 cup celery chopped, and 1/4 carrot chopped, 1 garlic clove minced 2.5 Tbsps of Curry powder, and salt and pepper to taste.. On medium heat, saute onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and a pinch of kosher salt, for 10 minutes, add split peas, curry powder, and add water and chicken stock. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and simmer for 45 minutes on low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend for smoothness (my guess you'll want to blend it) or leave chunky for rustic look and texture. If you have a stick blender, this is the time to use it. Enjoy it warm with some grated cheese and crumbled soda crackers.

I had a cajun cauliflower soup a while ago that is on my list to recreate. Had a very light bite, small bits of cauliflower in what I'm guessing was a chicken broth/purreed cauliflower base. It was wonderful.