A friend of mine volunteered to make soup for the Nebula Awards coming to DC this May, and told me she needed some recipes for vegetarian soups. I’ve been meaning to make some soups without meat, but every time I see the words “vegetable stock” in a recipe, I flinch. This week I decided to grab the tuber by the stalk and shake it until it cried uncle. So to speak.
The notion of a chickpea soup had been on my mind, and a bit of research turned up two recipes right off that were virtually identical, one in my copy of 400 Soups by Anne Seasby, and the other on AllRecipies.com. My version starts where they start, but as usual winds up on it’s own. No animals were harmed in the making of this soup, though a cow may have been coerced to give up the half and half.
First, the stock.
- 2 qt water
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 3 carrots
- 3 ribs celery
- 2 cups curly parsley, stems cut below the leaves
I brought the water to a boil and added the celery and salt to it. I usually only soften up the onions and carrots, but today I cooked them until they got some color, which comes from caramelized sugars and which adds flavor. After the onions and carrots go into the stock, I tossed the parsley and garlic around in a bit more oil over low heat until the garlic softened. In it went for a gentle simmer.
After the stock had simmered for an hour I hit it with my immersion blender and checked the seasoning. Stock should stand on its own, and I think this came out all right. Add some pasta to this and it would make a pretty good soup as is.
Just for the sake of form I pressed the stock through my wire mesh strainer, coming up with two quarts of stock and one cup of pulp, which gets discarded. Now I can make soup.
Chickpea and Spinach Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 qt vegetable stock
- 6 small red potatoes, chopped (3 cups)
- 2 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained
- 2 cups half and half (I use fat free)
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 package frozen chopped spinach
- 1 tsp ground cayenne
- 1 tsp fresh group pepper
- salt to taste
I brought the stock to a light boil and added the potatoes and chickpeas to it while I sautéed up the onions and garlic until soft. When they were just about ready to go in, I added the cumin and coriander to the pan and stirred the mixture together for a minute, which is supposed to let the spices “bloom.” Then it all went into the soup and I deglazed the pan with a cup of water, which went in as well.
When the soup came back to a boil, I set the timer for fifteen minutes and went off to clean things up a bit. At the same time I thawed the spinach in the microwave so it would be warm when I added it towards the end.
The tahini (sesame paste), half and half, and ground pepper all got mixed together and added to the soup after its fifteen minutes were up, stirring it in a bit at a time. After it incorporated I added in the spinach and the cayenne and brough it back to a boil. Five more minutes of simmering to blend the spinach in and it’s done except for adjusting the seasoning.
We ate it with chunks of French bread that got dipped in the soup, and were very happy with the result. A bit on the thick side, but that’s easy to adjust with another cup or two of water. I’m sure it will be even better tomorrow.
links/sources:
- AllRecipies.com: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/garlic-spinach-and-chickpea-soup/Detail.aspx
- 400 Soups (Anne Seasby) p223: [amazon_link target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]check out 400 Soups at Amazon.com[/amazon_link]
- 2011 Nebula Awards (May 19th in Washington DC): http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-weekend/