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Friday, February 17, 2006

Chickpea and Kale Soup



Chickpeas and Swiss chard both have an earthy nuttiness that is particularly suited to creating full-flavored vegetarian soups. --Evan Kleiman

It's suddenly freezing here in Marin, so soup was the order of the day. This chickpea and kale soup was inspired by a recipe from Pizzeria: The Best of Casual Pizza Oven Cooking by Evan Kleiman. It was warm and spicy and earthy. I added even more nuttiness to my version with some pesto and toasted pinenuts.

Here's my version:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 potato, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
2 diced tomatoes
1 tsp pesto
4 cups water
2 tbsp red lentils
8 oz chickpeas (canned)
1/2 bunch kale leaves, sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
2 slices jalapeno
salt and pepper to taste

Top with:
Baguette slice, toasted
1 tsp. pesto
1 tsp crumbled goat cheese or feta
toasted pinenuts


In a heavy saucepan, saute the onion in the olive oil until softened. Add the crushed garlic, carrots, potato, and butter and cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the water, pesto, red lentils, and cumin and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the chickpeas, kale, jalapeno and salt and pepper. Cook over lowest heat for 30 minutes. Serve in a shallow bowl with a slice of toasted baguette, topped with pesto and goat/feta cheese and a generous sprinkling of toasted pinenuts.

9 Comments:

Blogger Susan Voisin said...

Thanks for this recipe--and for commenting on my blog. Chickpeas and kale sound like a great combo, and I'll have to try this soon! :-)

7:08 PM  
Blogger Catherine said...

Hi Susan,

Loved your cheese sandwich piece.

Thanks for stopping by!

7:43 PM  
Blogger Fran said...

Spunds like a delicious combination of ingredients. Do you make your own pesto?

5:26 AM  
Blogger Fran said...

Soory --sounds--that's what I get for not looking.

5:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree that the Tuscan kale and chickpea combination looks good. But I think there's even more to that. I love the idea of pest to liven it up, the red lentils to give it a bit more body, and the jalapeno to give it a bit more zip. Very nice.

7:57 AM  
Blogger Catherine said...

Hi Fran,

I like to make my own when basil's in season. I like the Poor Man's Pesto recipe from The Vegetarian Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein.

However, for this one I used Trader Joe's Pesto.

Brendon - thanks for your comments. The jalapeno trick is one of my favorites!

8:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Off I go to post my own chickpea and kale soup. It started off as vegetable soup but it was your Italian veggie winter soup that inspired us to add the kale. It was a wise decision!

9:49 AM  
Blogger Alanna Kellogg said...

And I've got a beans and kale soup coming up any day now too!

10:00 AM  
Blogger Catherine said...

Hi Alanna,
Thanks for stopping by - I look forward to your recipe.

7:23 AM  

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