The Daily Chao
Soup for a Sick-o
Something’s been going around, and it’s gotten to me. For the past 2 or 3 days, I’ve woken up with a sore throat and runny nose. I’ve finished off a box of tissues at work (originally 3/4 full). No going out tonight, hence the post.
In preparation for my weekend of staying in, not contaminating other people, I went to Safeway to pick up some eggs and fruit to tide me over. I ended up with 3 pints of Haagen Dazs and a box of tea. I blame the illness.
Thankfully for my waistline (and probably my immune system), I don’t actually have the appetite for ice cream right now. I know, it’s shocking. Instead, I made a quinoa-lentil soup, based on this red lentil soup recipe from Heidi Swanson’s 101 cookbooks. I didn’t have red lentils, brown rice, or shallots, so I made do with what I had around the house. I imagine you could substitute brown rice with a lot of healthy grains. I thought about using bulgur but decided against it—something about those little quinoa tails seemed really appealing. Anyhow, enough chatter, here’s the recipe, partly plagiarized from Ms. Swanson:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 rounded teaspoon red-pepper flakes
8 cups water + 3.5 boullion cubes (I used Rapunzel vegan vegetable bouillon, though I imagine other bouillon cubes are fine too)
1 1/3 cup brown (AKA CHEAP) lentils, picked over
1/2 cup quinoa, picked over and rinsed
as much fine grain sea salt and soy sauce as you need
In a big soup pot, over medium heat, combine the olive oil and red pepper flakes. Let them cook down a bit, then add the garlic. Let the brown and caramelize a bit, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the water, bring to a boil, then stir in the bouillon cubes (I chopped them up first) until they dissolve. When there are no more chunks of bouillon, stir in the lentils and quinoa. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are very tender.
Heidi Swanson says that you should salt your soup generously unless you used a salty broth. I probably added a teaspoon of sea salt (maybe a teaspoon and a half) plus a splash of soy sauce. At any rate, you want to avoid a soup that tastes flat. She serves each bowl topped with almonds, olives, feta, and a slight drizzle of olive oil. I didn’t have those things, or wasn’t cogent enough to drizzle olive oil on top, but served it on two handfuls of shredded spinach so I could get some greens in my diet. If I had thought about it beforehand, I would have garnished with some leftover avocado I have lying around (ok, I realize it’s kind of weird to have quinoa and avocado lying around, but not rice or cheese, but that’s just how things shake out for me.)
Enjoy with a magazine, some furry company (my pet rabbit) and maybe a second box of tissues!
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maiqilai said:
this sounds AMAZING!
also, HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE RICE?! Let me send you some…
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quelquefois liked this
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yunik said:
get well soon, vicky! being sick sux (i know, i was sick for 1mo+)
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painpastispleasure liked this
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