Vuelta a España: Herb and Garlic Broth

This post is sort of a conglomeration of various cycling things, recipes, and stories. You see, at the same time as therunning of the Vuelta a España is the first running of the US Pro Cycling Challenge over in Colorado.

Tommy Danielson is a US Pro Cycling Challenge race favorite (no, really this time!), but he was quite under the weather due to some food poisoning the night before the individual time trial. During the coverage on Versus today, Tommy D described how he threw up all night long and had to crawl down the hallway in his underwear to the team doctor around 3 a.m.. He did not feel better until 5 a.m., but still managed to make it on the bike and only lost a few seconds to the leaders. Not a bad performance.

Tommy D feeling much better during the 2009 Tour of California.

I feel Tommy D's pain, as I've struggled with food poisoning before. You see, we spent a beautiful few days in Seville, Spain, rented a car, and drove down to Gibraltar. About 10 miles into the journey, I started feeling queasy. A few miles later I knew I was sick. Then, after a few bouts of having to stop by the side of the road, I realized it was more than sick - I had some sort of food poisoning. We would go down the highway for a little bit, then have to stop, then go for a little bit, then have to stop.

Scenery along the way to Gibraltar...

Sadly, I lost an entire day of eating fine Spanish cuisine and could only choke down a can of Coke and a couple digestive biscuits.

Mark fortunately had the presence of mind to capture my food poisoning moments on film..

Fear not, by the time I made it to Gibraltar, I was feeling much better and managed to have a beer or two. (I opted for the beer rather than attempting to do an individual time trial like Tommy D. Better to leave that to the pros...)

When one is sick, you're told to make sure you get plenty of fluids so here we go with another soup. This recipe for garlic soup is from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Our buddy Deborah cites this recipe as "good for colds and hangovers". Excellent. Not sure about soothing the aftermath of food poisoning, but it does make a flavorful broth that enhances any recipe including the Spanish Potatoes with Saffron, Almonds, and Bread Crumbs featured previously on the Vegetarian Vuelta a Espana.

Recipe and details on Veggin'...