My Dad is eating forests of broccoli and schools of salmon. He’s cooking tomato sauce, tomato pasta and tomato soup. Worn down by the force of my mother’s will, he slugs back fish oil capsules that now have their own spot at the end of the kitchen bench. I’ve delivered him bottles of tomato relish and emailed him recipes for broccoli au gratin and broccoli quiche. I’ve web-surfed into the early hours and discovered Milken's Nutrition Guide in a Nutshell: "eat at least five servings each week of cruciferous vegetables; drink 8oz of pomegranate juice daily; don’t eat grilled meat; increase consumption of soy-based food”. I’ve added The Prostate Diet Cookbook to my Amazon Shopping Cart.
We’re clutching at the power of food. It can comfort, excite, nourish, tease and love, but can it attack an ugly thing the size of an apple inside my father that shouldn’t be there?
My Dad appreciates the nexus between food and love. Every day for the 17 years I lived at home before moving to the city and university, he had a bowl of my mother’s homemade muesli and hand-squeezed orange juice on the breakfast table waiting for me and my brother when we emerged. Then, once he saw us settled, he turned his attention to cooking us a hot breakfast as well.
“How hard is it to put some Weetbix in a bowl and some milk in it?” asked Bradley on ABC TV’s awful Agony Aunts the other night, when the aunts were trying to persuade him to help his roly-poly wife, Gigi, get their kids ready for school in the mornings so she could start an exercise regime.
I guess there are different kinds of love. 
This dish is very Cantonese in its inspiration, especially in the hot oil flashed over the top at the end, as is done with steamed fish. It's also light, easy and really delicious.
Tofu, sweet corn and young broccoli with a hot soy dressing
1 cob corn
½ bunch young broccoli (broccolini)
250g soft tofu (bean curd), drained
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
2 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
80ml peanut oil
1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the cob of corn. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until it is tender. Remove corn from saucepan. When cool enough to handle, cut cob in half. Stand one half on its end and shear kernels off around the circumference. Repeat with remaining half.
Lightly cook broccolini in boiling water until a thin sharp knife easily pierces the stalks. Drain. (Don’t allow to overcook.)
Cut the bean curd into cubes and put it on a heat-proof plate. Scatter the corn kernels, broccolini, spring onion, chilli, coriander and soy sauce over the bean curd.
Put the oils in a small saucepan and heat until they are smoking. Immediately pour over the bean curd.
Serve with steamed jasmine or basmati rice.
