Curing the Common Cold

In most of the country, this has been one humdinger of a winter. And on top of record-shattering cold and unprecedented snowfall, it’s been a horrific cold and flu season.

Over the years, I’ve tried numerous home remedies for a cold, from blameless warm milk to potent toddies of brandy, honey and lemon juice. Now I believe I’ve finally found the perfect remedy: sopa de Lima, or lime soup. Curiously, lime soup comes from a region where cold weather is virtually unheard of, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, but it provides the best relief I know of for a runny nose, congested nasal passages, rheumy eyes and a raw throat.

The secret to a great Sopa de Lima (or any soup) is a good stock. And chicken stock can be made with not much more effort than it takes to open a can. OK, maybe a little more effort, but it’s worth it.

The basic formula goes something like this. In a large pot, combine a chicken, a quartered onion, a tomato, two carrots, two celery stalks, four cloves of garlic and an herb bundle made up of a few sprigs of parsley and thyme and a bay leaf. Add enough water to cover the bird by two inches.

Bring the water to a boil, skim off the foam that rises to the surface, reduce the heat and simmer gently for an hour, skimming from time to time to remove any fat or foam. What you’ll wind up with is a cooked chicken (whose meat you can use for salads, sandwiches or the recipe below) and 6 to 8 cups of rich, gorgeous chicken stock.

To make lime soup, you’ll need lime juice, which should be squeezed fresh just before it’s added. (Don’t even consider bottled lime juice for this soup.) Before pressing the limes, bang them around on a cutting board to loosen the juices.

Sopa de Lima offers a formidable arsenal to combat the common cold. The serrano chiles blast open your sinuses (how much depends on whether you’ve scraped the seed-bearing “veins” from the interior of the chiles). The lime juice loads you up with vitamin C. The garlic is said by some to have immune-system enhancing properties. The steaming broth soothes your throat. The chicken nourishes you, while the cilantro revives your flagging taste buds.

But, best of all, lime soup takes about 10 minutes of preparation time, because, when you’re feeling under the weather, you don’t really feel like cooking.

YUCATAN CHICKEN LIME SOUP (Sopa de Lima)

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 2 cups shredded cooked chicken meat left over from making stock

4 corn tortillas, cut into matchstick slivers

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 to 4 serrano or jalapeno chiles, thinly sliced

5 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup fresh lime juice or to taste

1 large tomato, cut into 1/2-inch dice

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Wash and dry chicken breasts and dice. Toast tortilla strips on nonstick baking sheet or on piece of foil at 400 degrees or in toaster oven until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer tortilla strips to plate to cool.

Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add onion, garlic and chile slices and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken stock, lime juice, chicken and tomato. Gently simmer soup until chicken is warmed, about 3 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste and extra lime juice if desired (soup should be highly seasoned). Stir in cilantro. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with toasted tortilla strips.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

317 calories; 1,164 mg sodium; 64 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 30 grams protein; 1.69 grams fiber.