First Recipe - Chickpea, potato and leek soup

This one turned out quite tasty. However, in retrospect I would have gone lighter on the chickpeas because they made the soup super thick especially after it cooled down.  The left overs are more like hummus mashed potatoes than soup, but the flavors are all there.

I saw this on Jamie Oliver's old show where he would invite people over and cook a meal for them. The recipe below is adapted to include vegan substitutions and should also be the correct ratios (less garbanzo more potato) if you wanna give this one a try.

8oz chickpeas, soaked overnight
4 medium red potatoes, cubed
3 large leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Earth Balance spread
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt & pepper to taste
28oz vegetable stock (not quite a whole container)
Extra virgin olive oil

Rinse the soaked chickpeas and (in a different pan then you plan to cook the soup in) cover with enough water to submerge the chickpeas and the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to an hour.

Cut off the roots and slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Wash carefully, remove the outer leaves, and slice finely. I thought some pictures might be helpful here since I know I haven't had much experience with leeks in the past so others may not have either.

Cut off the roots and the grungy tops

Slice lengthwise, rinse thoroughly (no seriously so much hidden dirt), and remove the outer leaves

Artsy shot with all three stages of the leek chopping process

Now warm a thick bottomed pan (enter my faux le cruset dutch oven), and add the tablespoon of oil and the tablespoon of Earth Balance. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan and sweat gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet.

 

Add the cooked chickpeas and potato (I also used the cooking water here because I like liquidy soups) and cook for 1 minute. After this add about two-thirds of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  

Not the prettiest soup in the world

Now decide if you want to puree the soup or leave it chunky.  I have an emulsion hand blender that did the trick quite nicely and left a nice texture. Just be careful of splatters! Now add the remaining stock. Check and season to taste. (I added some garlic powder to get it extra garlicky)

Really you just need to let it simmer long enough for everything to come together, about 5 more minutes, and then you are ready to serve.  It's really good with an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top and honestly, although the original recipe calls for parmesan cheese, the potatoes and chickpeas end up creamy enough so you really don't miss it.

Seriously this soup is too legit to quit. TRY IT!