Comfort & Joy

It's been a long time coming, friends and enemies, but I finally have the swine flu.

"Oh no! I have the swine flu!" I said, throwing the back of my hand against my forehead.

"No, you dont," said Roomie, "You just weakened your immune system with a few too many days straight of drinking, dessert-ing, and cigars. Now you have a bad cold."


Finding no sympathy there, I turned to The Doc.


"Oh no! I have the swine flu!" I said, throwing the back of my hand against my forehead, this time adding a swoon to help make my case.

"No, you don't," replied The Doc, feeling my glands. "Too much smoke, and dancing in the garage has given you some post-nasal drip. Take some Advil Cold&Sinus. You'll be fine."

Hmph.


Well, whatever I have (I still say say it's H1N1), it put me in the mood for comfort foods.


My food of choice this time around was those little pillows of feel-better-ness: meatballs. However, I didn't want the acidity of tomato sauce and my throat was too sore to eat them plain and dry. In what would I couch my meatballs?


The answer was a Swedish-type cream sauce that I completely made up (using several non-vegan recipes as my template). Even when I'm sick, I'm inventing stuff in the kitchen.

Note that if you sneeze into the pot, you won't have to share your deliciousness with your non-commiserating famliy.


Contagiously Tasty Swedish Meatballs


2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 heaping tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2-ish tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2-ish tablespoons chopped chives
6 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 cup warm water
1 1/2 cup vegan sour cream (a little more or less won't really matter)
2 - 10 oz. packages frozen veggie meatballs


Bring the vegetable broth, salt, and pepper to a boil in a medium-sized pot.
Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the fresh herbs and chives.
Cook stirring often until the greens are wilty.
Add the sour cream and stir well until it's completely incorporated.
Turn the heat back up to medium-high and slowly add the cornstarch/water mix while stirring the pot.
Add the frozen meatballs and stir to coat. The mix should be nice and thick and slightly bubbly.
Cook uncovered until the meatballs are defrosted and cooked, about ten or so minutes. Stir often to keep the bottom from burning. Add the optional sneeze right before serving for maximum revenge.


I ate this over some "egg-free" egg noodles with sides of cooked asparagus, cauliflower, and corn. Roomie said they were also delicious served cold the next day on pumpernickel bread.


***


Delicious or not, the meatballs didn't completely cure me of the fevers, so I figured I'd put the un-eaten eggless noodles to use in a pot of soup. It's a pretty basic recipe, but here it is. I like to think that frying up the leeks a bit with the herbs gives the soup a more faceted flavor, but that may be the chest-congestion talking.


Dr. M's Patent-Pending Cure-All Vegetable Elixer
(All amounts given are approximate. I never measure anything too carefully since I'm usually half-delirious with fever)


3-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, white, light green, and dark green parts chopped
2 tablespoons each fresh thyme, fresh sage, fresh marjoram, and fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4-6 cups vegetable broth
2-3 large carrots, mandolined or sliced thin into disks
4-5 celery ribs, chopped
1 bag of frozen peas


Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot.
Add the leeks and cook until the white parts are starting to brown and the dark green parks are bright and glossy.
Add the herbs and stir to coat with oil and leeks. Cook a few minutes, until the parsley is bright and whole thing is fragrant. Add the salt.
Add the broth, carrots, celery, and peas. Bring the mix to a boil, stirring often.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for up to an hour, stirring often.


When you're ready to eat the soup, you can add the pre-cooked noodles (I don't like to cook mine with the soup because they absorb so much liquid) to the whole pot, but I like to add them to individual bowls, that way I can do more with the leftover soup (blend it for gravy, strain it for stock, add rice or croutons or potatoes, etc.).

"Great soup!" Roomie (who crumbled leftover "ChiliFest 2009" cornbread into his) and The Doc agreed, "But you still don't have the swine flu."

Hmph.


I may not have my health (or a particularly compasionate family), but at least I'm well-fed.