Cooking Light says, "That’s right—we turned the dip of the decade into a soup that’s savory, silky, and garlicky good. A portion of the chickpeas are reserved and toasted in a skillet to offer some chew—a nice textural contrast to the creaminess of the pureed soup. If the soup feels a little too thick, adjust by blending in more water, 1⁄/4 cup at a time. You can make the soup a day or two ahead, but you’ll definitely need to adjust the texture, as it will overthicken upon standing. Make the toasted chickpea topping up to a day ahead; store in an airtight container at room temperature."
I made a few small changes--namely adding a few ingredients I like in my hummus and pumping up the cumin a bit. I know what I like! ;-) I also added an extra can of chickpeas so that I could toast them for extra topping. My changes are noted in red below.
Hummus Soup with Toasted Chickpeas and Feta
Slightly Adapted from Ann Taylor Pittman via CookingLight.com
(Serves 4-6)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
5 cloves garlic, minced
(I added 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp each of smoked paprika and cayenne to the soup and a sprinkle of each in the chickpea topping)
2 cups low-sodium veggie stock
1 3/4 cups water (I used 2 cups)
1 1/8 tsp sea salt, divided
2 (15 oz) cans unsalted or low-salt chickpeas, rinsed, drained, & divided (I added a can and put 2 in the soup and toasted one can's worth)
1/8 tsp ground cumin (see cumin note above)
1/4 cup tahini--sesame seed paste
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (I added extra to taste--about 1 lemon's worth)
6 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese
(I added chopped fresh cilantro for color & flavor)
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring often, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add vegetable stock, 1 3/4 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt; bring to a simmer. Set aside 1 cup chickpeas; add remaining chickpeas to stock mixture. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet over medium-high. Add reserved 1 cup chickpeas; cook, stirring occasionally, until toasted and browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in cumin and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt.
Pour stock mixture into a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure lid on blender, and place a clean towel over opening in lid. Process until smooth. Add tahini and lemon juice; process until smooth. Ladle soup into 6 bowls; drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and sprinkle with cheese and toasted chickpeas
Notes/Results: Oh yeah, this soup made me happy today. Almost as happy as the toasted chickpeas on top. It's a good thing I made extra because I kept tasting them to make sure they were done enough (or at least that's the excuse I gave myself). They are a great texture with the creamy, really silky texture of the soup and the salty bursts of feta cheese, but I'd be happy to eat a can of them on their own. As you can see from the recipe--I added some extra spices to this soup--my thought being that I love the way my go-to hummus tastes, so why not go for the same favor profile in the soup. You could leave them out or use your own favorite hummus spices as you see fit. The cilantro was more for color so if you don't like the flavor, omit or sub in some parsley and you can omit the feta cheese if you want a vegan soup. A note on texture--it is much silkier than a pureed veggie soup so I enjoyed it, but it does thicken upon standing--so make sure to have extra broth or water ready when you reheat it. I would happily make it again.
We have two yummy dishes waiting this week in the Souper Sundays kitchen--let's have a look!
Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shared this tasty Corn, Cilantro, and Cucumber Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing and said, "Although autumn is right around the corner, summer isn't over yet. The farmer's markets are overflowing with fresh corn, and there is still time to make my delicious triple C salad. Of all the ways to eat fresh corn from the cob, I like to cut mine off the cob ( uncooked). The tender milky kernels are sweet, crunchy and delicious making them a welcome addition salads. ... I found that crisp kirby cucumbers, spicy cilantro, and seasonal corn taste delightful tossed in a creamy citrus dressing. This salad takes only minutes to make and goes well with most entrees."
Here at Kahakai Kitchen I tried Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Hot New Potato and Parsley Salad. We could spend time arguing whether it's salad or side dish but since a salad is defined as small pieces of vegetables in some type of sauce or dressing, I'm going with salad. ;-) It's basically potatoes, butter, and a whole ton of finely-chopped parsley and it is delicious. I served it with some fresh local fish and loved every bite.
Mahalo to Judee for joining me at Souper Sundays this week!
Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)
(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...
To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:
- Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.
On your entry post (on your blog):
- Please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
- You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).
Have a happy, healthy week!
Lovely idea for a soup - I really need to do this - you can't go wrong with chickpeas and soup!
ReplyDeleteI love hummus as a dip but you are right, turning it into soup is even better!
ReplyDelete