banishment soup

it's soup but it's also a spell but mostly it's soup

Hello!

I am sick! Are you sick? I feel like everyone is sick right now? Mine is like a nose and throat thing, but I am also like…. sick of the world? Of just, like, having to deal with it all. I have been trying to watch the sunrise and the sunset because that usually makes me feel a little bit better, and it’s working to varying degrees.

I have also been going on some long walks and listening to music that makes me feel good and hopeful and connected to the kind of person I would like to be and the kind of world I would like to live in. It is very easy to give into despair, but I think, at least for me, it’s an important practice to try and not do that. If you feel like you need some of that, here is a playlist I made.

And here is some soup to follow it up. I call this soup banishment soup because it’s the kind of soup you can make when you feel a sickness coming on, or you’re at the tail end of a sickness, and you want to kick it for good (banish it, as it were). It’s maybe a little too involved to make when you’re really in the throws of an illness, but also, maybe you have that kind of fortitude, and you can do hard things all the time — don’t let me stop you! (Also, it’s not that hard.)

It’s got sweet potatoes and pasta and also chicken and a ton of leafy greens. My philosophy is that when you’re sick, you need a lot of everything to get better, and so this soup really does have it all. This recipe also makes a lot of soup. Like, a lot. You’ll need to use your biggest pot, and when all is said and done, it’ll probably be filled to just below the rim. Eat it today and tomorrow. And then probably the day after that.

It fed all my roommates (4 boys of varying sizes) two bowls with plenty left over. If that’s simply too much soup for you, freeze half and save it for the next time you want a bowl of something nice. However, I really do think it’s the kind of soup you wouldn’t mind eating for a couple of days in a row because there’s a lot going on here, and if you’re not eating soup for breakfast, this is your chance to start living the good life.

I guess I should also say that you can make this soup whether you’re sick or not. I think you’ll really like it either way (and I hope you’re not sick).

banishment soup: ingredients

35-45 cloves of garlic (it’s a lot!)

3 inches of ginger, peeled

2 inches of turmeric, peeled (or 1.5 tsp of ground turmeric)

2 leeks, rinsed, halved and sliced

2 tbsp cracked black pepper

½ cup olive oil

~4 cups of your favorite chicken broth

10 cups of water

¼ cup soy sauce

1.5 tbsp kosher salt

2 small sweet potatoes, thinly sliced into 1/8 inch pieces

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

4 bunches rainbow chard (or other green of your choice), sliced into 1-inch strips

3 lemons, zest and juice

1 10-12 oz box of your favorite small pasta (like ditalini, orzo, or little alphabet pasta)

2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced for garnish

sambal, for garnish

banishment soup: method

1. Cook pasta according to boxed instructions. Drain, toss with a little olive oil, and set aside.

2. While pasta cooks, in a food processor, blitz the garlic, ginger, and turmeric until very finely minced, about 20 seconds, scraping down the sides once halfway through. Sautee this mixture with the leeks in ½ cup olive oil in your largest pot over medium heat until soft, about 6 minutes. Add black pepper and cook another 2 minutes.

3. Add chicken broth, water, soy sauce, and salt, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add chicken and potatoes. Simmer until chicken is cooked and potatoes are tender, about 20 mins.

4. Add lemon juice, zest, and greens. Gently simmer until greens are tender, about 10 mins.

5. Taste, adjust for seasoning, and serve. Garnish with scallions and a little bit of sambal, and eat it until you feel better!

And that’s it! That’s the soup! It’s kind of a potion, as all soup is, but mostly, I think it’ll just make you feel good and warm, and really, I think that’s all we can hope for right now. Well, that and a better future, but for right now, I’m just going to focus on the soup.

xo,

Garrett