Get Well Soup

Before we get to the soup course, it is time to 'fess up: I've been sick. Not just me, but my 15 year old son Ethan and my husband Jim. (They are all better now, I am not quite back to normal.) This has been going on for WEEKS.

I am not one to run to the doctor, as I am usually strong as a horse and figure my body can kick the infection. I avoid anti-biotics. But this time I got a ten day round of anti-biotics and it didn't work! I didn't know that was possible. Now I am on a different rx for five days that has the "side" effect of a bad taste in my mouth. Most often this is a subtle metallic taste, annoying but tolerable. But after a few days the taste got so bad at night that it seemed as if a small rodent had died in my mouth and stayed there. Gross! I was going to stop the rx but my husband talked me out of it. The compromise: I now take it in the morning, with food as usual, which seems to be working. It seems that the bad taste is mollified by having food in my tummy, and this way I don't have to get up in the middle of the night just to have a snack. I really think I'll be back to my old self in a few more days.

So...needless to say it is difficult to write about and enjoy food when my taster is "off." And cooking? There has been precious little cooking from me lately. Except...

SOUP! Lovely, warm, nourishing, comforting SOUP!

Here's the drill:

Grab a big ol soup pot. Start with a saute of onions and garlic in a little olive oil, and don't be shy with the onions or garlic. Add more.

Pour in a couple of cans, or a large liter box of chicken broth. (The organic one from Trader Joe's is good.)

Cut up a leek, a zuchini, some celery...whatever veggies are on hand. Toss them in.

Add a can of tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste (but go easy if the canned broth is salty already).

If desired, add a few pasta bow ties ("farfalle") or a little rice, or a little left over bread croutons from the chicken panzanella you had recently. Heck put in some leftover chicken too if you still have it.

Serve when the pasta or rice is cooked through, piping hot, with a little sprinkle of fresh parmesan and a wedge of crusty ciabatta bread on the side.

Repeat until cured.

When you are feeling poorly, and need the culinary equivalent of parental love, soup is where it's at: Healing, delicious, easy.

MMmmmmmmmmm!

Comments

[Joe @ Culinary in the Desert]

Sorry to hear about the illness - it's no fun when it keeps going around and around!

Hope everyone gets better soon!

[Andrea]

Thanks for the good thoughts, Joe! I think I hjave turned the corner on this thing and expect to feel like my old self in a few days. I am even beginning to feel like cooking!

--Andrea

[Anna]

Hi Andrea!

Glad to hear you are feeling better. Last night I was reading my Soup Peddler book and he mentioned a great source for soup recipes. Here's the URL:

http://www.soupsong.com/