Kale and Chickpea Soup with Lemon

After all the feasting and merriment comes the overwhelming urge to eat lightly and healthfully. I picked up a bag of kale and thought to make some sort of virtuous salad from it. But outside, it’s blowing a gale and a salad just doesn’t cut it – I wanted something warm and filling. Just not rich. A quick inspection of my cupboards revealed a tin of chickpeas and a soup was born. Warm, filling, with a slight bite and a sharp edge.  I don’t like using too many ingredients in a pureed vegetable soup as it sort of muddies the flavour. I suppose you could swirl in a spoonful of creme fraiche or a little double cream but I don’t think it needs it. The blitzed chickpeas makes it quite creamy in any case. This Kale and Chickpea Soup with Lemon is perfect to take to work in a flask or spill proof container to heat up in the microwave for lunch. Delicious, virtuous and thrifty!

Thrilled to stay that his recipe is a Community Pick over on Food52!     http://food52.com/recipes/25867-kale-and-chickpea-soup-with-lemon

 

You could substitute other beans like butter beans or cannellini beans too. You could also use thyme leaves instead of the rosemary and omit the chilli flakes and use freshly ground pepper instead. This is one of those recipes that you can use as a base – use half the stock to make it more of a thick puree than a soup and serve with a nice thick slice of oven roasted (responsibly sourced) cod or halibut atop for instance…

• Servings: 4
• Time: 45 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Prep time 15 minutes. Cook time 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 banana shallots (or one onion)
• 1 stick of celery
• 2 stalks of rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ tsp of chilli flakes
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 410g tin of chickpeas drained and throughly rinsed
• 200g bag of chopped kale
• 800ml hot stock (a cube or powder is fine – I used a combination of Marigold powder and vegetable stock)
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt to taste

To Serve:

• Paper thin lemon slices
• Grated parmesan cheese (omit if vegan)
• Toasted crusty bread (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Set a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat, pour in the olive oil.
2. Finely dice the shallots and add to the pan, stirring to coat with the oil.
3. Make 4 or 5 long horizontal slices in the celery stalk and dice. Add this to the pan and stir.
4. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and stir into the pan together with the bay leaf and the chilli flakes.
5. Peel the garlic clove and using the flat of your knife and the heel of your hand, crush so that it is still whole and add to pan.
6. Add the chickpeas and the kale and stir. Pour in the hot stock, let it come to a boil and turn down the heat.
7. Let it simmer for 20 minutes until the kale is tender. Squeeze in  the juice of half a lemon. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste. You might want more lemon or salt – it all depends on what you have used for the stock.
8. Working in batches or in the pan itself if you have a stick blender, blitz until you have the texture you like. I like mine to still have a few chickpeas and pieces of kale through it so I set aside a couple of ladlefuls and used a stick blender to blitz the rest.
9. Serve hot, floating a couple of slices of lemon on top of each serving and pass round the parmesan cheese for everyone to help themselves. Lovely with toasted crusty bread.

© Selma Jeevanjee and Selma’s Table, 2013, 2014. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including photographs without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Selma Jeevanjee and Selma’s Table with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.