With so many folks getting sick right now, I figured I may as well share some of my favorite things I ate and drank to feel better while I was home with Ms. Rona for three weeks. Luckily, I didn’t lose my smell (or taste), nor did my appetite really diminish—food was definitely my comfort. May some of these dishes bring the same to you. Please note some of my links below have discounts for first-time users, and I make an affiliate referral bonus with your order, so thanks in advance.
-As a single lady living solo, you gotta figure out how to take good care of yourself. Fortunately, I was able to place a couple orders with Good Eggs to get fresh groceries delivered (get their Savoy spinach, kale, broccolini) and they have a bunch of bone broths you’ll want to have around. They also have some good house soups—I loved their kale soup with smoked linguiça and potatoes for something more substantial, and I added extra kale to it.
-For breakfast, I went back to my Dad’s Italian farmer roots and made stracciatella soup for quite a few mornings. Warm up some chicken broth, add fresh spinach leaves, and then beat two eggs with salt, pepper, a pinch of peperoncino, and grated pecorino, and then gently drizzle and stir the eggs into the broth like an egg drop soup. So restorative.
-For lunch and dinner, I needed something easy and clean and I was trying to stay away from dairy since I was so congested. Time for dumpling soup! I would warm up some broth, add chopped scallions and freshly minced ginger, and then add a combo of different greens (bok choy, broccolini, and/or spinach) and throw in some frozen dumplings that I boiled separately, maybe some noodles too, occasionally an egg. Top with sesame oil and chile crisp. Eat. Slurp. Go back to bed.
-I’m so grateful I had placed some orders from small delivery services like Locale and Pastel before I knew I was sick. From Locale, I love the alllllll the noodle kits from Kagawa-ya Udon Noodle Company, like creamy kabocha chicken udon, kitsune udon, and their hearty niku udon (get extra sous-vide soft boiled eggs to drop into your soups). They also sell Roli Roti’s tasty chicken and beef bone broths. Don’t miss the dumplings from Dragon Beaux.
-From Pastel (not just a sponsor, I love their service!), I was way into Chiang Beef Noodle soup (don’t forget the extra pickled mustard greens), laksa from Dabao Singapore (get extra marinated soy eggs), and the massive kyay oh si chet khao swe (Burmese dry noodles) from Love Khao Swe (I turned it into two meals). They also have fancy dumplings from Dumpling Club, treat yo’self. I see they added pozole rojo from Donaji, awesome. (You’ll need someone to pick up your treats at a Pastel pick-up point.)
-I tried to avoid delivery, but sometimes you just gotta get the caldo tlapeño from Nopalito—chicken consommé, seasonal vegetables, garbanzo beans, avocado, queso fresco, and chipotle adobado. (Get a second order to have around, trust.) The matzo ball soup from Wise Sons is another good one.
-I was drinking a bunch of turmeric and ginger (golden milk) drinks, check out my post here.
-For some reason, I got a mad craving for sweets while I was sick. My friend dropped off a trio of cupcakes from Noe Valley Bakery for me, the only cupcakes I like to eat. Check out these cookies I got on Pastel, so good.
-Shoutout to cannabis for helping with the muscle aches—I used topicals on my shoulders, back, and legs; took a couple baths with cannabis bath salts; and ate plenty of low-dose edibles to chill out and watch movies. Add Maat Apothecary infused spiced honey to your tea! Use my code mymilligram on Sava for a $30 discount off your first delivery.
Do you have a friend who’s sick and want to help them out? Get them a gift card to any of these delivery services. My friend gifted me an Instacart credit, so sweet, and I was able to treat myself to a bouquet of flowers from Bi-Rite Market (flowers really help elevate one’s mood!) along with their fantastic chicken noodle soup (it’s so damn good).
-I was sent some beautiful teas from Art of Tea—their Wellness Collection has some winners (Breathe, Bright-Eyed, and Endurance are all lovely and resorative).
What to Watch: Here’s what I watched, in no particular order: Minx (so fun), the final season of My Brilliant Friend (gah, so damn good), Tokyo Vice (covered my eyes during the gross violent parts), The Gilded Age (great escape), Bridgerton (of course), Russian Doll, Julia, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, The Muppets Take Manhattan (yes, I was stoned), Rocky (flashback time), and What We Do in the Shadows (always makes me laugh). I watched The Andy Warhol Diaries before I was sick, it’s absolutely brilliant.
Feel better, take care, rest.
The incredible laksa from Dabao Singapore on Pastel. Photo: © tablehopper.com.
