You might have noticed that there is a new category over in this here right sidebar. Or, maybe you didn’t notice at all. Maybe you’ve never even looked at the right hand sidebar. Maybe you didn’t even know that there was a right hand sidebar.

In any event, I find that more often than not, I cook vegetarian. Sure, I do the occasional pork chop or beef stir-fry and I’ve found there is very little that bacon can ruin, but quite honestly, touching raw chicken repulses me and I find often veer towards vegetables, legumes and seafood without even thinking twice.

I have no problem ordering chicken, beef or any other type of meat, from pork to veal to wild game when in a restaurant (I had an excellent steak last week, in fact).  I just don’t often have the desire to cook it at home.

So, as more meat-free recipes start popping up here, I wanted to have a place to put them, if not for my own sanity, than for your convenience (or maybe, just maybe, that sentence should be the other way around).

When I first started pulling the ingredients together on my counter, this dish didn’t look like much. I mean, simple ingredients, 2 pots, easy peasy. I thought it was going to be one of those dishes that just looked awesome in the picture but turned out to be, well, not so awesome.

Luckily, the finished product proved me wrong. The flavor was unique and complex and a few handfuls of fresh spinach adds obligatory greenery for guilt appeasement over future indulgences.

Moroccan Style Chickpea Soup
Adapted from Serious Eats

Ingredients:

3 cups low-sodium chicken or veggie broth
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon ground curry powder
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
5 or 6 ounces spinach, cooked (optional, but highly suggested)
A few lemon wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pot, combine broth, chickpeas, tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, kill heat and set aside.

2. While that’s happening, in a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook about 5 minutes, until onion is a little soft and translucent. Add garlic, curry powder, ginger and cumin. Cook for another 30 to 60 seconds, until fragrant.

3. Pour chickpea broth mixture into saucepan. Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes.

4. Kill heat. Stir in cilantro. If using spinach, stir that in, as well. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into bowls and serve with lemon wedges.

Tagged as: Chickpea Soup, comfort food, hot soup, Moroccan, Moroccan Chickpea Soup, Moroccan Food, moroccan soup, one pot soup, one-pot dinner, soup, weeknight dinner