weekly recipes, and winter soup

This has been the year of discovering soups for me.  They're cheap, low-maintenance, and there's always leftovers.  So far my favorites have been tomato basil soup, and potato cream soup, but this chickpea soup is FAR healthier (no cream added!).  I finally tried a recipe from this Rose Bakery (a cafe in Paris) cookbook.  Try this soup with a chunk of fancy bread.  You won't be sorry.

(recipe below)

SPICED CHICKPEA AND LEMON SOUP
 serves 6

2 cups chickpeas (soaked overnight in 4 cups water with a pinch of baking soda)

4 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, diced

2 sticks celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp. salt

pinch of ground black pepper

1 T. ground cumin

1 dried red chili, crushed

6 cups vegetable stock

2 T. lemon juice

pinch of sugar

Drain the chickpeas and put them in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover.  Bring to a boil, then simmer till soft - about 1-2 hours.

Towards the end of the cooking time, heat the oil in another saucepan and cook the onions, celery, and carrot over a low, stirring occasionally, till the vegetables soften and are just beginning to turn golden.

Add the garlic, salt, pepper, ground cumin, and chili.  Stir for a few minutes, then add the chickpeas and enough chickpea liquid and stock to cover the vegetables by 1 1/4 inches.

Simmer for about 30 minutes, then blend to a smooth puree.  Add more stock if the soup is too thick.

Taste and season if necessary.

Garnish:

lemon wedges, coriander leaves, or a sprinkling of cumin and sesame seeds.