Chickpea Soup with Lemon & Rosemary: Slow Comfort Food for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's Sunday, the day I have been social distancing myself for years, before it has become daily practice. I don't have much to add about the Coronavirus, so I won't...except to say that I hope you and those you love stay safe and healthy and sane with all the madness. For me sanity and nourishing food like a pot of healthy soup are the way to go. This soup is my third recipe from The Blue Zones Kitchen by Dan Buettner. (you can see my first two posts and reviews here and here.) I love chickpeas and lemon and since most of today has been pouring down rain, having this bubbling away on the stovetop has been perfect. I made a couple of small changes to the recipe--noted in red below, including the addition of rosemary.

Dan Buttoner says, "Greeks and Ikarians especially have mastered the art of blending lemon, olive oil, and herbs. This simple soup is a warming alternative to chicken soup in the winter and provides yet another way to creatively render  and incorporate beans into your daily diet. Chickpea soup is one of the most classic comfort foods in Ikaria; you'll find it in almost every home and tavern."

Chickpea Soup with Lemon & Rosemary
Slightly Adapted from The Blue Zones Kitchen
(Makes 6 Servings)

1 lb dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, rinsed, and peeled (or 4 15-oz cans lower sodium chickpeas, drained)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (I used 3 medium leeks, chopped)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bay leaf
(I added 2 no-salt non-chicken broth cubes)
(I added 3 sprigs of rosemary)
1/2 cup extra-vigin olive oil, plus more for serving
salt and pepper (optional)
juice of three lemons, for serving

Place chickpeas in a pot with just enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Remove from heat, drain, rinse, and put into a clean pot. 

Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, and olive oil, and enough water to cover the ingredients. Stir to combine.

If using dried chickpeas, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 2 hours, or until chickpeas are soft.

If using canned beans, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes; add a few tablespoons of water at a time to thin the soup as needed. 

Remove from the heat and discard bay leaf. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with generous drizzles of lemon juice and olive oil.

Notes/Results: This is a very simple soup, that is low effort --it just cooks for a while but the result is so much more than the ingredients. With the generous lashings of olive oil and lemon, it's almost decadent. I used a good garlic-infused olive oil, broth and rosemary to pump up the flavor and ended up very happy with my results. Hearty and satisfying, I would happily make it again.

Let's see who's here in the Souper Sundays kitchen this week:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared Chicken Chili Tacos saying, "This is a sandwich, kinda, so I thought about sharing with Deb for Souper Sunday. This is also a meal I consider fun food because it’s messy and mostly handheld. ... The chicken slowly simmering in the slow cooker was a hit. The tacos were messy but aren’t they always, so I’m thinking using tortillas. Doug suggested we simply serve it over rice and that’s probably what we will do next time."

Shawnee from Allotment2Kitchen brought Squash & Thyme Soup, saying "I haven't done much in the way of new or experimental cooking either, finding myself geting into reading both fiction and non- fiction books.  My most recent read was My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay. What I am sharing today is a bowl of Squash and Thyme Soup that I made early this year. Its not much of a recipe really: sauteed  a couple of onions, garlic and thyme in a little olive oil, then scooped out oven roasted squash wedges. Added some vegetable stock and simmered until thickish. Seasoned to taste."

Thank you to Tina and Shaheen for joining me this 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 Souper Sunday'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. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week and stay safe out there!