Chickpea Broccoli Soup with Turmeric and Ginger
I love this recipe. It’s so simple and so delicious. Especially this time of year. And it’s a great example of how I think about food.
When I think about what I want to cook my first thought is usually - how can I get more nutrient dense foods into my diet and make them TASTE good. See my post Eat More Plants from earlier this week to get an idea of what some of those categories of nutrient dense plant foods look like. This recipe includes a wide range of foods from those categories - onions and garlic, celery, carrots, broccoli, chickpeas, ginger, turmeric, optional cilantro, plus the additional herbs and spices in the curry paste. We are rocking it when it comes to covering the basis of nutrient dense plant foods.
I like to include herbs and spices in my cooking whenever possible. Not only to make it taste good, but to up the nutrient density of the meal. Herbs and spices are super high on the nutrient density list. I used Mae Ploy Yellow Curry Paste in this recipe because it does not contain any MSG or additives. You can use any curry paste or powder you like. This one contains lemon grass, garlic, shallot, galangal, chili, coriander seed, kaffir lime peel, cumin, cinnamon, mace, turmeric, cardamom.
Many of us have become enamoured with turmeric. In this recipe I showcase how to prepare the turmeric in such a way as to reap the most benefit from this amazing healing food. Turmeric is best absorbed when heated in a base of fat or oil for a time, and black pepper improves this absorption.
One other aspect to cooking is thinking about making the recipe versatile to different metabolic needs. Often people in the same family have different metabolic needs and who has time to cook two meals. This kind of recipe works great with the addition of chicken (or some other kind of meat) for those that may want or need extra protein. If you need more fat in your meal, increase the coconut oil. If you want to include the healing benefits of bone broth, choose chicken or beef broth over veg broth.
This recipe is for a large batch. Feel free to halve it. I tend to make large batches of soup so that there is enough for leftovers and to freeze. Most soups freeze really well. It’s nice to have a variety of soups in the freezer for those super busy days when you don’t have time to cook.
BROCCOLI AND CHICKPEA SOUP WITH GINGER AND TURMERIC
3 good sized onions finely chopped
2 cups celery finely chopped
1 tablespoon turmeric
½ tsp black pepper
4 tablespoons coconut oil (or more if you need more fat in your diet)
4-6 cloves of garlic minced
2-3 tablespoons grated ginger – or to taste
4 cups cooked chickpeas divided - Fine to use canned chickpeas. I batch cook chickpeas ahead of time and store them in the freezer
6-8 cups of stock depending on how thick you like your soup - veggie, chicken or beef broth all work well. Whatever you prefer.
1 ½ - 2 pounds carrots, peeled and diced, yielding about 4 cups chopped
2 pounds broccoli florets cut into bite sized pieces
2 teaspoons salt or to taste
1 tablespoon curry paste - I used Mae Ploy Yellow Curry Paste. Use more or less depending on how strong your curry paste is. This one is pretty mild. You can use curry powder here too if that’s what you’ve got on hand - but I would drop it down to 1-2 teaspoons depending on how hot you like it and how strong your curry powder is.
(Optional additions: Cilantro and/or Cooked diced chicken breast)
INSTRUCTIONS
Sautée the onions and celery, turmeric and black pepper in coconut oil over medium low heat for about 15 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and turmeric has had a chance to work its magic. Heating the turmeric together with black pepper in an oil base makes the nutrients in turmeric more bioavailable. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté a few minutes more
In the meantime, prepare the carrots and steam them for about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and steam lightly just a few minutes more – keep it al dente and bright green. Remove from heat, remove the lid and set aside
When the onion mixture is done, blend it in a blender together with some stock until smooth, return to the pot. Blend 2 cups of chickpeas in the remaining stock until smooth and return to the pot with the blended onion mixture
Add the carrots and broccoli to the pot (…optional chicken can be added now or at the table)
Stir in the curry paste and salt and season further to taste according to your taste buds
Top with some fresh cilantro if you like and serve
SEASON TO TASTE - WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Depending on the curry you use and whether you are looking for more kick consider these “season to taste” options:
If you want more tang - consider a splash of lemon or lime, or some diced tomato
If you need more umami flavour - consider some fish sauce or coconut aminos
For more heat - add more curry paste or powder
I did not add any of these additional ingredients because the flavour was so good. I share this little tidbit on adjusting the seasoning to give you an idea about how my taste buds work and what I might add to a recipe if it does not make my taste buds sing.