Today was our first storm of the winter. A perfect day for making soup! I had lots of odds and ends in the fridge which I incorporated into the soup, so feel free to add or subtract items that you do or don’t have.
Utensils: pasta pot, soup pot, colander, cutting board and knife
Prep. Time: About 20 minutes
Cooking Time: About 45 minutes
Category: Vegan, Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free
Ingredients
water for the pasta
1- 2 quarts water or stock (I had made stock the day before)
1 Tablespoon olive or macadamia nut oil
2-3 minced garlic cloves
one leek, washed, sliced and cut crosswise into half-slices
one stalk celery, washed & diced
one carrot, scrubbed & diced
2-3 small mushrooms, washed & sliced
one potato, diced (I used a yam)
one cup chick peas (mine were sprouted)*
one cup lentils, rinsed
one cup dry pasta (I used rice Penne) (optional)
one cup cut green beans
herbs and spices to taste (I used Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute and cayenne pepper)
* If you use dry beans, soak overnight and drain in the morning. If you use canned, drain first.
Directions
1. Put water in the pasta pot and bring to a boil.
2. While waiting for the pasta water to boil, prepare the veggies— garlic, leek, celery, carrot, yam and mushrooms. Place 1 T. oil in the bottom of the soup pot and add the veggies. Sauté on a low flame for about 5 minutes.
3. By the time you have prepped the veggies and put them in the soup pot to sauté, the water in the pasta pot should have boiled. Add the Penne pasta and cook according to package directions. (You may use a different shaped pasta and one that is not gluten-free.) Drain. Set aside. (If you don’t want pasta, then you won’t need the extra soup stock or pasta pot.)
4. Add about one quart of water or soup stock to the veggies; add the lentils and chick peas+ and also herbs and spices to taste. (If you use water and not stock or broth, you may need more seasoning.) Allow to come to a boil; then reduce flame and simmer.
5. After about 20-25 minutes, add the cooked pasta and green beans. Simmer until beans are tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes, adding more soup stock if the soup is too thick. (Or, if you want more of a stew, don’t add water.)
+Note: If you are using canned chickpeas, you can add them with the string beans, since the chickpeas are already cooked.
Yield: 2-3 quarts of soup, depending on how thin or thick you prefer. Overnight, the soup may also thicken, so next day you may need to add more stock.
P.S. If you want to see how I eat on a daily basis, please go to my newest blog: www.nobodyeatslikeme.com.