winter chickpea soup

hi all,

we're a few days into the lenten season, so it's back to exclusively veggie recipes until easter. here's one i came up with on a walk today and decided to fix up for supper. i'm really happy with the way it turned out - it's very tangy, and the sour cream really helps to temper the spice. it's also very, very easy to make.

winter chickpea soup

ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas (or 4 cups cooked, if you make your own)

1 can veggie stock (or 2 cups)

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 small habanero pepper

juice of 1 1/2 limes

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 handful small tomatoes (cherry or grape)

2 handfuls uncooked spinach leaves (no need to chop or de-stem)

sour cream to garnish

to make:

coarsely chop the onion

mince the garlic

de-seed and mince the habanero (careful!)

heat a small soup pot and add the olive oil

sautee onion, garlic and habanero on medium-low heat until tender

drain & rinse the chickpeas in a colander

add to the onions and stir

add the veggie stock and bring everything to a boil

add the salt, white pepper and lime juice

cover and reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes

slice the tomatoes lengthwise and add them to the pot

cover and simmer for 5 more minutes

add the spinach leaves - let them steam on top of the mix for about 3 minutes

stir in the spinach leaves and leave on low heat until you're ready to serve

garnish with sour cream and serve with a bit of broth

tips:

this should be thick like a stew. make sure to taste the chickpeas to make sure they're tender enough before you serve.

serves two adults as a main course. this will almost certainly make fantastic leftovers.