On Soup (And NOT Getting Sick!)

I've been feeling a little under the weather the past couple of days. I've been Zicam-ing it up and drinking lots of fluids and going to bed early and basically doing everything I can to convince my body that no, I'm not getting sick. Not at all. Mostly cuz I'm in the water a lot this month, and until next week we're still on a skeleton crew at swim, so there are no backups. If I'm sick, I will just have to teach sick. (Also - I don't want to be sick. It's no fun.)

But I didn't get a very good night's sleep last night (I had a nightmare - what's with that? I almost never have nightmares. I can count on one hand the nightmares I've had in my life.) and I woke up still feeling off, and what I wanted most was soup. Really good, hot, healthy soup. And I made some, and it turned out amazingly, so I thought I'd better write it down while I remember what I did! :)

I stopped at the local grocery store and hit the salad bar for a big container stuffed with baby spinach, grated carrots, and mushrooms. When I got home, I chopped an entire onion (because Maggie always claims onions ward off sickness) and tons of fresh garlic (ditto) and sauteed them in a little oil. When the onions were soft and translucent, I added the mushrooms (chopped), a minute later the carrots, and finally the spinach (which I tore up). I let everything cook for a bit, then I added several good glugs of red wine because red wine makes soup and roasts better. This is, like, the first rule in my universe. (This is what I'm cooking with right now. It was $8 on sale for a huge bottle the same day I used up the last bottle on a french onion soup kick.) I brought it to a simmer and let it go for a bit to cook off the alcohol, then added water and some powdered beef stock (I really need to buy/make some nicer stuff, but that's all I had left in my pantry). And finally, I added a can of white beans for some protein.

Amazing stuff. I would have preferred about twice as much spinach, but oh, well. I could also see adding some radiatore to make it a heartier meal. Some bacon, chopped and cooked with the onion, could only make things better. And when I remember to pick up tomato paste, I'll probably add a good glop, too. :)