Chickpea & Garlic Soup with Romesco Sauce: Repurposing Leftovers for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

After making Madhur Jaffrey's Asparagus with Romesco Sauce, I was going to use the leftovers on some roasted potatoes but I got to thinking about other ways to use it. I thought the piquant sauce would liven up a bowl of soup and be a colorful topping. In sticking with the Spanish sauce, I decided to continue the vibe with a saffron and smoked paprika-spiked Chickpea & Garlic Soup. I kept the spices light so as not to compete with the sauce, added carrots, celery and parsley to round it out, and a little lemon to brighten it all up. An excellent way to repurpose the leftover sauce.  
 

  
Chickpea & Garlic Soup with Romesco Sauce
by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Serves 4-6)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch saffron
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
6 cups veggie broth (I used water and 4 tsp "non-chicken" base) 
2 (15-oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped + additional to garnish
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
sea salt and black pepper to taste
Romesco Sauce (recipe here) to garnish

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. When oil is heated, add onion, carrots, celery, garlic and saffron to pot. Saute until vegetables begin to soften. Add paprika, veggie broth, and chickpeas to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook about 20 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through. Add fresh parsley and lemon and cook another couple of minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. 

To serve place hot soup in warmed bowls and top with room temperature Romesco Sauce and chopped parsley. Enjoy!  

Notes/Results: Great flavor. The Romesco sauce adds complexity to the otherwise simple bean and vegetable soup. The saffron adds color, and along with the smoked paprika, gives the soup a Spanish flair. You could just mix the sauce into the soup, but I think it is more interesting to top the bowl with the Romesco sauce and let eaters stir in in themselves. Healthy, easy and good--I will make this again. 

Souper Playlist--I don't often cook along to music because I use cooking as my "thinking time" and music distracts me. But, I was tired last night after an afternoon of over-indulging at the Honolulu Chocolate Festival and I needed something "peppy" in the kitchen to motivate me. I put my iPhone on shuffle and this is what I listened to while making soup--a pretty random but "souper" playlist, good for chopping, stirring, and singing (rather badly) along. I thought it would be fun to share. ;-)

Chickpea & Garlic Soup with Romesco Sauce Playlist
Vida La Vida--Coldplay
Mama Mia--Abba
I Say a Little Prayer--My Best Friend's Wedding Soundtrack
Amado Mio--Pink Martini
Have You Ever Seen the Rain--Creedence Clearwater Revival
Brown Eyed Girl--Van Morrison
One Note Samba / Girl From Ipanema--Bebel Gilberto & Vinicius Cantuaria
Billionaire--Traive McCoy w/ Bruno Mars
California Dreaming--Angelo, Saint Tropez Cote Plage
Smooth--Santana & Rob Thomas
Killing Me Softly--Roberta Flack
Via con Me--Paolo Conte
Top of the World--Shonen Knife, If I Were a Carpenter
Songbird-Eva Cassidy
Baby I Love Your Way--Peter Frampton

Do you listen to music when you cook? Do you have a particular style or a favorite playlist?

There are some nourishing soups and a healthy salad waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week. Let's take a look.

Janet of The Taste Space has two soups this week. First up is this Ayurvedic Winter Vegetable Stew with Adzuki Beans. Janet says, "This is an Ayurvedic winter vegetable stew that balances vata and pitta and decreases kapha. I made it more pitta-friendly by omitting the green curry paste (miso-curry soup isn’t so scary) and ground pepper and made it more Janet-style by adding adzuki beans (good for both vata and pitta).  Ignoring all the dosha-stuff, I can assure you that this is a delicious stew. The main flavours are miso, ginger and dill dancing around winter vegetables like winter squash, Brussels sprouts and broccoli."

Janet's second offering is  this Lemon-Ginger Miso Soup. She says, "Lemon and ginger are great as a pick-me-up when sick, comforting yet zingy. Best of all, though, this soup literally takes 5 minutes to make. Awesome on any given day, but really fabulous when you are under the weather and can’t stand to wait any longer. Just heat up the soup before it boils so that you still get the benefits from miso (heck I do that with my tea as well because I can’t drink boiling water). I really liked the combination of lemon, ginger and miso."

Heather of girlichef is here with hearty Country Split Pea with Bacon & Potatoes and says, "Every once in a while I do something rare - I fall in love with a bowl of thick soup.  I've mentioned before (you know, once or twenty-two times...) that I am a brothy soup kind of girl.  I turn up my nose at "soups" that look like baby food.  But then, something like this pot of hearty, rustic...and thick...soup jumps up, slaps me hard across the face, and calls me a liar. The thing is, I think my appreciation for this particular bowl of soup comes from one simple ingredient - the humble split pea.  Okay, there's bacon in it, too - and that never hurts.  But I'm a sucker for any type of peasant food.  A hearty bowl of split peas, a warm hunk of bread ripped from a loaf just out of the oven, maybe a bottle of wine..."

One salad today from Ana of Sweet Almond Tree, this pretty Salad with Sautéed Beet Greens. Ana says, "...the leaves of the beet plant can be used on their own to make a very appetizing salad.  They are green with red stems and they resemble chard, which by the way is a relative of the common beet.  Most people prefer to eat the red, sweet root of the plant, therefore they cut off and discard the leaves.  Next time save the leaves, give them a good rinsing with cold water, and turn them into this healthy, low calorie salad.  The leaves are blanched for a few minutes and then are sautéed in olive oil.  It's a simple salad which makes an excellent lunch."

Thanks to Janet, Heather and Ana for joining in this week. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich that you would like to share, just click on the Souper Sundays logo on the side bar for all of the details.

Have a happy, healthy week!