Just about every Sunday morning I put a put of water on the stove and throw in all of the onion tops from the week, garlic remains, an onion, a carrot and anything that will make a nice rich stock. If I have roasted a chicken during the week the bones go into the stock to make chicken stock. This week though all I had was vegetable. So I threw all of my stuff in the pot and let it simmer away. I had found a recipe last week that I wanted to try. It was from Heidi's 101 Cook books. Now I am an omnivore (I was corrected by my very sweet oldest daughter last week that I am not a carnivore???? yeah she's only 7 cute huh?) but I love vegetarian recipes. I find that I can usually alter it to include what I want to have it. Most of Heidi's recipes are like that. You may remember the split pea soup of hers that I made of couple of weeks ago? I used chicken stock for it and it was incredible. Now she had a recipe for Chickpea Soup. I was very intrigued by the recipe. It had chickpeas, bulgur, cauliflower, and swiss chard. All things that I love and had on hand!
For this recipe I made my own stock but I used chicken stock as my base instead of water so really I was just enriching it. When all the veggies that I used had cooked down enough I simply removed them and threw them out. Then I went ahead and followed the recipe. I cooked mine a bit longer to get the bulgur softer so the girls didn't complain about it and I used romanesco instead of cauliflower. I also wanted mine a bit soupier so I added some more liquid near the end.
We loved this soup and I can't wait to try it again!
Heidi's Chickpea Hot Pot Recipe
Leftovers are going to thicken up ovenight - thin with a bit of water/stock while reheating, and adjust for seasoning again. You can find bulgur in the bins at most natural food stores and Whole Foods Markets.
1 large yellow onion, chopped
a splash of olive oil
a couple pinches of salt
2/3 cup uncooked bulgur
1 14-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cup cauliflower, trimmed into small trees
2 cup kale or chard, destemmed and cut into thin ribbonsolive oil for finishing drizzle
red onion, chopped for garnish
In a large pot over medium-high heat saute the onion in the olive oil along with the salt - for a minute or until the onion begins to soften a bit. Stir in the bulgur. Stir in the chickpeas and the stock. Bring the ingredients to a simmer. Cook for another few minutes, it should start to thicken. Taste to see if the bulgur is cooked through, if so add the orange juice. If not, simmer for a couple more minutes before adding the juice. Stir in the cauliflower and the kale as well - simmer another few minutes, until the cauliflower is just tender. If the stew is on the thick side, thin with a bit more water or stock. Taste, and add salt if necessary.
Serve garnished with a drizzle of olive oil and red onions.
You don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy a great vegetarian recipe!
As Always...Happy Entertaining!!!
Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com
