With the long slog through winter comes the inevitable seasonal cold that brings headaches, red noses and the deeply-ingrained instinct to crawl under the blankets and hibernate until spring. While your co-workers gorge on Cragels you'll be stuck at home trying to summon the will to walk to your refrigerator, and while ordering delivery is tempting, if you can boil water you can have comforting cold cures inside your body in just a few minutes.
When I get sick, these are two go-tos to soothe symptoms and get me back into the land of the living.
Sick Person's Chicken Soup: I'd call this recipe "lazy" but that would overlook the ultimate lazy-person's soup: opening a can. We can do better than those sodium bombs and get even more chicken cure with not much more effort than boiling water and cooking pasta. Chicken broth also works here but I like the deep, chicken-y flavor of the stock. I used ditalini pasta but any short-cut variety would work; or just break spaghetti into smaller pieces.
- 1 32-ounce carton chicken stock
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup short cut pasta
- 1/2 cup cooked chicken, chopped (optional)
- 1 garlic glove, smashed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 dash soy sauce
- few dashes hot sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- a few shakes of dried herbs: oregano, thyme, sage, onion
Pour stock, water, garlic glove and bay leaf into a pot and bring to a boil. Stir in salt, pasta and dried herbs. When the pasta is about 3 minutes away from being cooked (according to directions on box) add in the chopped chicken, soy sauce and hot sauce.
Test pasta for doneness and broth for seasoning; if necessary, add more salt (stuffed noses mean inhibited taste abilities!). Remove bay leaf and garlic clove.
Serve immediately in mugs or a bowl. Await cure.
Herbal Wine Hot Toddy: Boozing while you're ill isn't recommended but a tiny bit of wine can help take the edge off when you're fighting the good fight. The whiskey variety works great for warming yourself on a chilly evening and we're employing a similar tactic here, only substituting wine for whiskey and adding some herbal remedies for cold relief. This bedtime drink combines the antioxidant powers of herbal tea with lemon (vitamin C!) and honey (throat soother!) with a little bit of red wine, which will help your cough-racked body relax and help you fall asleep.
- 1 bag fruit-flavored herbal tea like Red Zinger
- 6 ounces boiling water
- 2-3 ounces red wine
- juice from half a lemon (1/8 cup or so)
- 1 tablespoon of honey (or more if you have a sweet tooth)
Pour boiling water over the tea, wine, lemon juice and honey and let steep according to directions. You may want to microwave the mixture so it's extra hot: the steam works wonders for relieving congestion.
