Soup, Singlehandedly
by Domenica on February 8, 2012
I have good news: It is possible to cook with one hand.
It took me awhile to figure this out. For a few days after my injury I moped around, thinking about all of the things I wouldn’t be able to cook for weeks and weeks, like this and this.
Then I bucked up. In fact, the other day I managed to cobble together this rustic chickpea and mushroom soup. I CAREFULLY crushed the garlic cloves by putting them, one at a time, under the flat side of a knife blade and CAREFULLY pressing down with my palm (obviously using my good hand to press and being VERY CAREFUL—even so, as I describe it here it sounds rather reckless, doesn’t it?). I used pre-sliced mushroom caps, and a one-pound container of baby kale leaves I found at the supermarket (no slicing or chopping required). I limited the use of my left hand to occasional support duties as the right hand worked.
I’m happy to say that this soup was as good as any two-handed soup I’ve made. Plus, I didn’t have to do the dishes. My doctor, however, was not thrilled with with my initiative and reminded me that my left hand should be kept elevated at all times and not used to enable the right in any way. In other words, I got a little too ambitious too soon. So, back I go into hibernation for a little while longer. A presto…
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