Chickpea, potato and kale soup

With a light tomato, herb broth, this is a rich but simple soup with lots of colour and flavour. This makes 4 small bowls or 2 good sized ones.

Ingredients

2T water
1/4t coarse sea salt
2T scallions, minced, 2″ – 3″ green reserved for garnish
1/4t black pepper, freshly cracked
1/4t dried red chilis (or to taste)
1t dried basil, rubbed
1/2t dried oregano, rubbed
1/4t dried thyme, rubbed
1T fresh garlic, minced
1 cup cooked chickpeas
3/4 cup white potatoes, 1/3″ dice
1/2T lemon juice
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup tomato passata (or puree)
2 cups green curly kale, chopped coarsely
1T nutritional yeast
Coarse sea salt, nutritional yeast, and black pepper to taste

Optional: Garnish with 2T minced fresh basil at the end (in lieu of dried at the beginning) to add flavour and colour. Add more passata for a stronger tomato flavour. A tablespoon oil for the saute in place of the water will add some richesse. Use white beans instead of chickpeas for something more traditional. About 1/3 cup dried chickpeas will yield 1 cup cooked. I usually make my chickpeas with kombu in a batch so that I always have some on-hand.

Method

Bring a medium pan with a lid to heat on medium high. Add the scallions, green herbs, chilis, black pepper, 2T water and sea salt. Water saute for 1 minute. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Add the potatoes and chickpeas and saute for another minute or so. Add the lemon juice and deglaze the pan. Add the stock. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Add the passata, cover and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the kale and stir to combine. Add the nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Let stand 1 minute for the kale to wilt. Season to taste, and ladle out. Garnish with additional nutritional yeast if you like and scallion green sliced on an angle.