Sick Day

I've never really liked chicken noodle soup. I don't really like chicken all that much to begin with (I'm a red meat/fish/alternative protein kind of person) and noodles in soup just don't do it for me. I used to like chicken soup with rice when I was younger, but that might have been because of the book.

But since I found out that miso soup is almost/equally/more good for you than chicken soup, I've happily made the switch. Now, when I get sick, I start chopping carrots, onions, tofu, and spinach, if I've got any, and whisk in the miso paste. I make ridiculously unauthentic miso soup, but it tastes so good. A bowl of this every hour, when I'm sick, with my favorite chopsticks and a good book or movie, and pretty soon I feel a lot better.

Someday, I will do this for my children. When the first snow starts to fall and one comes down with a cold, I will call off work and spend the morning slicing carrots and onions. I'll saute them until they're nicely carmelized, and drop them into hot water, and watch the oil glitter on top. I'll dilute the miso with hot water until it's mixable, and finally add soy sauce until everything feels right.

And hopefully they'll grow up thinking miso soup is as much a comfort food as I do.