Saturday, October 24, 2009

White Bean & Pasta Soup

CrabCake 2 has the flu.

My symptoms are trailing his by about 2 days.

Around noon Monday CC2 said his head hurt and he had a scratchy throat. By 4PM he had a 102 fever, a hacking dry cough, headache and runny nose. You don't need a medical degree to see flu.

Of course we talked to the doctor's office and it's the usual answers, rest, plenty of fluids, Tylenol and Motrin staggered by a couple of hours, call us if it gets worse. Worse!?! He's got a 102 fever! How much worse do you want? Well if he's still feverish on Thursday bring him in.

Thursday morning breaks but his fever hasn't. So after once again running through the doctor's automated phone gauntlet of choices and after having the same conversation as Tuesday with the "phone triage nurse", we were given an appointment.

We got there at 4PM. As soon as they realize we are a "potential flu case", both of us are immediately issued face masks and ushered to an isolated waiting area. This is a waiting area that's over the river and through the woods, past all the doctors' and nurses' lockers and down by the business offices. We are quarantined folks, pure and simple.

In the waiting area are other masked "potential flu cases". We are our own little pod of Typhoid Marys, ready to wreak havoc on the countryside by simply breathing. We waited. I was just about ready to rouse the rabble by throwing off our masks and gleefully running through the halls threatening to talk to everyone unless we got some help, when the nurse arrived. I think she was a nurse but I'm not really sure, she was covered head to toe in plastic. Plastic cap, plastic goggles, gloves up to the elbow and a plastic gown that can best be described as baby blue Hefty bag. Quite attractive really, very slimming.

We were ushered to an examination room where she took CC2's vitals and then used Purell disinfectant on her gloves, which she then threw away, before sending in the doctor. The doctor walked in wearing the same get-up; she looked more ready to knock off a bank than perform a diagnosis. I couldn't resist asking, "Why the get up? Are patients spontaneously combusting?" "Just precautions", but she sheepishly conceded that to date none of her patients had actually exploded.

After a ten minute exam she conclude that CC2 had the flu and I was probably coming down with it. Wow, four years of med school told you that huh? She said CC2 was through the worst of it so just keep getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of fluids. That's it? You greet us and treat us like we're carrying Ebola and the best you've got is, go back to bed and have some soup?

Here's a tip for all the kids out there: Forget Medical School, just get a good Soup cookbook.

Soup! You gotta be kidding me! Well here's Crabby's contribution to National Health Care and the recipe's free. All this cure costs is the price of the ingredients and the time it takes to prep it. White Bean & Pasta Soup is pretty easy to make and if you have leftover chicken lying around you can throw it into the pot, so pull up a box of Kleenex and enjoy...


White Bean & Pasta Soup
from Bon Apetit, October 2009 with a few tweaks from Crabby

3 TBSP Olive Oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
2/3 cup chopped celery
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 (14.5 ounce) can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
1 cup cooked pasta, I like elbow shaped
1/3 cup chopped scallions
Extra olive oil for drizzling

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery. Saute the vegetables until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute an additional minute.

Add the chicken stock, beans and tomato and bring to a simmer. Cook for 25 minutes. Roughly puree part of the soup with a stick blender.

Mix in the pasta.

If the soup is too thick add water 1/2 cupful at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some of the chopped green onion.


There you go, you're cured. I'll be billing your insurance companies $1,000 each. For what it's worth, I have the same symptoms as CC2 except for the fever. Seems as though old crabs like me get the flu but with far less severe effects. I'm off to bed crablings, I'll be back next week. Until then remember you can do it, you can cook.

1 comment:

WineWizardBob said...

Hope you and the Crablet are on the speedy road to recovery.

Wine drinking is a great way to get sleep and get your fluids. But not for Crablet.

Soup! Another Crabby hates me moment. Wine just doesnt work with this tasty Tuscan or any hot soup for that matter. The soup heats up your mouth too much and you taste too much alcohol from the wine.

But if you must, drink what you like. Yeah, that simple.