Chickpea and Kale Soup

Time flies! November will pass by in a couple of hours, and I am so ready to welcome my favorite month of December! It's the busiest time of the year for work and it's time for SOUP! I've been in the mood for soup and my whole family really enjoyed this tasty chickpea soup for last night's supper, so I thought I should share it with you all.

This is my bowl of chickpea and kale soup topped with saltine crackers, Mmmm!

This is Nathan's bowl, chickpea and sweet corn soup, he asked for "MORE, please"!

My husband asked for spinach instead of kale and he went to the stove for seconds, YUM!

Chickpea and Kale Soup

Adapted from "Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen"

by Deborah Madison

Ingredients for the chickpeas:

2 cups chickpeas, soaks

2 carrots, peeled (the recipe called for 1 carrot)

1 head of garlic, sliced crosswise in half

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley (the recipe called for handful of parsley sprigs, tied together with string)

Ingredients for the seasonings:

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

4-5 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely diced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch of dried thyme

3 garlic cloves, minced

Big bunch of kale (the recipe called for spinach)

Method:

1. Put chickpeas in a pot with the rest of the ingredients and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender. Season with a teaspoon of salt and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a second soup pot. Add the onions, oregano, thyme, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat until softened, occasionally giving them a stir. Add the garlic toward the end.

3. Using a strainer, lift the cooked chickpeas into the pot with the onions and discard the rest of the aromatics. Strain the liquid and add 6 cups in the soup pot, setting the rest aside for the moment. Add another teaspoon of salt, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Puree the chickpeas and return them to the pot. If the soup seems too thick, thin it with any remaining liquid. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

4. Wilt the kale in a skillet in the water clinging to its leaves, then chop and add to the chickpeas. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then serve with your favorite crackers. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Easy Veggie Noodle Soup

Cool nights have arrived, we really enjoyed our veggie noodle soups for dinner 2 nights in a row. We loved it so much and it's so perfect for this kind of weather!




Would you like to know what my secret ingredient is? Yes, it's because of this "Marmite", Kmouse encouraged me to buy when we went shopping at Cost Plus. This is the first time I've heard about this awesome ingredient which helps transform my veggie stock into a great-looking broth and makes the taste of my soup incredibly delicious!!!



I'm so proud to tell you that this was the first time I made my own vegetable stock. In the past, I always used store-bought veggie broth or stock. I used the recipe from "Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen" which is truly amazing. I can't wait to try so many great soup recipes from this book!



I made it my easy veggie way:

Ingredients:
8 cups water
1 large onion, cut into chunks
2 large carrots,chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large daikon, chopped (not an ingredient from the book)
1 cup chopped shitake mushroom (not an ingredient from the book)
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt

Method:
Put all the ingredients in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer slowly at least 30 minutes, partially covered, then strain it.

The recipe also called for 1 bunch of scallions and 8 parsley sprigs with stems but I skipped them. I'll add these 2 ingredients when I make it again next time!

This time I used buckwheat Japanese noodles, I served cooked noodles with this super delicious veggie stock (including its veggie chunks). Oh, and I dropped a teaspoonful of miso paste in the soup bowl before serving, Mmmmm!!!!