I’m Sick

I’m a lousy sick person… probably because I’m never sick, and I don’t really know what to do with myself when I actually am. I whine and moan and complain to anyone who will listen, going to bed early and taking naps and giving myself all sorts of other leniancies I don’t usually allow (I’m very strict with myself, usually), because I have a runny nose or a hacking cough or itchy, watery eyes (of which I currently have all three. Whine whine whine.)

It’s not for lack of wanting to write that I’ve been absent the past few days: first I arrived back in Paris from Spain, then I had to move into my cousin’s and unpack (a task I loathe almost as much as packing–why do I travel so much, again?) Luckily, with the aid of the Artist and the Musician, I managed to move across three arrondissements in a shopping caddy, but that’s another story for another time.

I started a blog post a few days ago… really, I did. I had good intentions. But then I didn’t have pictures and I didn’t have groceries and I went to visit some friends for the weekend, came back, and started going to full-time Monday to Friday 9-5:30 school. I don’t think I’ve been in school this much since boarding school, and even then I managed to take a nap between my last class and “sports,” which were always either yoga, figure skating, or sports excuse from when I dislocated my shoulder… skating.

I’m losing my train of thought, but I’m going to allow it, because I’m sick. And distract you with this picture.

This is my home now. (Literally… this is the view from my window.)

And this is my soup. It’s nothing fancy or dressed up, nothing that you would serve to anyone else aside from yourself and perhaps any other sick friends who may happen to saunter by. It’s not my favorite soup, but it’s mine: the soup I make for myself when I’m sick, because while it’s easy to promise to make someone soup if ever they should feel a bit ill, it’s not the sort of promise that a lot of people follow through on. And with my new crazy schedule (full-time? seriously? me?), I don’t have time for anything more fancy or even for a run up to the 20th for spicy soup–my favorite 7 euro pho from Belleville, dyed bright red with Sriracha, the instant cure for what ails ya’.

I allowed myself a shortcut (because I’m so lenient): in France, store-bought broth does not exist. Can’t get it. Anywhere. I loathe bouillon, but there is a time and a place for everything, and a quick chicken soup on a weeknight is just the thing. You don’t need much if you use enough vegetables, and if you have the store-bought stock, feel free to sub it in. I will allow it.

Chicken Soup for the Sick and Whiny and Lazy

2 tsp. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 rib celery, diced
3 carrots, cut into half-moons
3 half chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. powdered chicken bouillon
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart water
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. dried parsley

Heat the olive oil over a low flame in a stock pot. Add the onion and sweat, adding a pinch of salt and stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and turn up the heat to medium. Stir occasionally and cook 5-10 minutes, until the carrots begin to color.

Move the vegetables to the side to expose the bottom of the pot, and add the chicken breasts. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat up to high and cook until the chicken is browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Turn over and sprinkle the minced garlic over the cooked side of the chicken. Brown the other side as well.

Sprinkle the bouillon over the chicken and add the water. Bring the entire thing to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low, add the herbs, and cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred. Add it back and serve to whiny sick people.