Sequestration Meal #168

 

Simple flavors to cure what ails me (I hoped): this is the recipe for Soba with Caramelized Onions, Leeks, and Chives from the Vegetarian Cook's Bible by Pat Crocker (2007).

This recipe is pretty basic, though it takes a while to cook down the leeks and onions. I've found that leeks cook faster than onions so if I made this again I'd probably give the onions a head start. It had good depth of flavor, though, from the crumbled bay leaf, rosemary, and white wine.

It also seems to contain a cross-section of representation from the allium family--onions, leeks, garlic, and chives rarely appear all at once--which makes it pretty pungent. Some people say that allium has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties; I don't know, I'm not a medical doctor. But they do seem to turn up a lot in most people's home remedies for colds and flu, and I figure these days an extra punch of that can't hurt.

As simple as it is, it also turned out kind of pretty with the chives (borrowed from a neighbor whose chives actually grew well outdoors). All in all, I'm glad I tried this--and glad I had dusted myself off enough to find the mental and physical strength to pull out a cookbook and actually follow a recipe.

I wrote this post roughly a week ago. I am dropping in now just to say what a tremendous, overwhelming release of tension it is that we will not endure another four years of this American nightmare. All my love to all of you. When you are out of danger that is often when you can realize what you've been through and feel the pain of it all. Take the time you need, and take care of each other out there.