Soup for the Sick

I am currently in Nashville, nursing round two of a nasty chest cold. Christmas was a fun whirlwind of travel, friends and family, but now I'm left in the chilly aftermath: an empty house, the tired bus-ride to work and a awful, hacking cough. Happily, I am heading back to Pittsburgh on Friday to celebrate the New Year with some old friends and squeeze in a few more days of delicious pizza and sleeping in spare beds. That means I need to recover ASAP! Thus, soup.

I made a big batch of vegetable soup, just the thing to warm the belly and kick-start a productive cough. I'd share a picture but my camera is in the clutches of my husband. But please imagine a steamy bowlful of cloudy golden broth, cubed carrots and potatoes and little winks of submerged chickpeas. Sound good? Here's the recipe:

Soup for the Sick

Ingredients
olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 large stalk of celery, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, chopped into rounds
1 can chickpeas, drained
a splash of water, broth or white wine
4 cups of veggie broth (try making your own!)
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 tsp soy sauce
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and celery until transparent. Add the garlic and heat a minute or two more. Add the potato, carrots and chickpeas and sauté two minutes more. Deglaze* the pan with a splash of water, broth or wine - I like to use dry vermouth. Add the broth along with the herbs and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat, simmering for 15-20 minutes until everything is soft. Get out your salt and pepper and correct the seasoning. I know that sometimes a strong flu requires a slightly more salty broth. Season as you will!

This recipe makes about 3 big bowls full (or two days worth, if you are home on the couch surrounded by balled-up tissues.) The resulting soup is the essence of comfort food for me, and never fails to make me feel better.

Up with Soups! Down with Colds!

* A note on deglazing: if you are not familiar with this term, don't panic! Deglazing is basically when you add a few tablespoons of liquid to a pan of sautéed meat and/or veggies. It loosens up all the little caramelized bits stuck on the bottom of the pan and adds a rich flavor to the soup. Easy peasy and you get to feel sophisticated as plumes of steam rise from the sizzling pan.