Yet another cold day. So why not have another soup post? I recently read a short but excellent article about the benefits of soup. The paragraph that stood out was :
I couldn't have written that better myself. I think that is so important to remember that we really don't need to eat a whole lot to get all our nutrients. We just need to pick the right ingredients and serve them in a healthy way. This may seem obvious but I would need to eat a whole lot of these Drop Dead Coffee Brownies (as delicious as they might be) in order to receive the same amount of key nutrients as one bowl of soup would offer me.
Another bonus to soup is that I have not found a better way for my kids to eat as many vegetables and legumes as with soup. Give them a piece whole grain baguette and the kids and Hubbs are satisfied with soup for dinner or lunch.
This chickpea soup is so simple to make. Due to the red wine vinegar it tastes like it is straight from somewhere on the Mediterranean. It a great change to creamy, thicker soups while still keeping you feeling full and satiated.
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 small Red Onions (cut into half slices)
- 1 yellow Bell Pepper ( roughly diced)
- ½ teaspoon ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 large clove of Garlic (crushed)
- 2 cups Vegetable Broth
- 2 cups Tomato Puree
- 1 ½ cups cooked Chickpeas (canned chickpeas work well too)
- 2 teaspoons Red Wine Vinegar
- fresh Chives. Parsley, or Cilantro for garnish (optional)
- Cracked Pepper (optional)
- Heat olive oil in a medium sized stock pot over medium-low heat. Add onions, bell pepper, spices, and garlic to pot. Sautee for about 5 minutes until onions become tender and garlic fragrant.
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Add broth and tomato puree to pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes over low heat.
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Add chickpeas and red wine vinegar and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
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Remove from heat. Serve hot and top with fresh herbs and cracked pepper.
Notes: 1) Red onions can be substituted with white onions or yellow onions. Yellow onions will taste similar to red onions and be sweeter. 2) Red wine vinegar can be substituted with white wine vinegar. Other substituted are rice wine vinegar (will need to add at least 3 teaspoons instead), sherry vinegar and balsamic vinegar. Soup, however, does taste the best made with red wine vinegar.
Easy Chickpea Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 small Red Onions cut into half slices
- 1 yellow Bell Pepper roughly diced
- ½ teaspoon ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 large clove of Garlic crushed
- 2 cups Vegetable Broth
- 2 cups Tomato Puree
- 1 ½ cups cooked Chickpeas canned chickpeas work well too
- 2 teaspoons Red Wine Vinegar
- fresh Chives. Parsley or Cilantro for garnish (optional)
- Cracked Pepper optional
Instructions
-
Heat olive oil in a medium sized stock pot over medium-low heat. Add onions, bell pepper, spices, and garlic to pot. Sautee for about 5 minutes until onions become tender and garlic fragrant.
-
Add broth and tomato puree to pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes over low heat.
-
Add chickpeas and red wine vinegar and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
-
Remove from heat. Serve hot and top with fresh herbs and cracked pepper.
Recipe Notes
1) Red onions can be substituted with white onions or yellow onions. Yellow onions will taste similar to red onions and be sweeter.2) Red wine vinegar can be substituted with white wine vinegar. Other substituted are rice wine vinegar (will need to add at least 3 teaspoons instead), sherry vinegar and balsamic vinegar. Soup, however, does taste the best made with red wine vinegar.
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