Split Chickpea Soup with Summer Squash and Root Vegetables
This soup is one of my favorites. It is healthy and tasty. As you know by now, if you have followed the Laila Approach, chickpeas are delicious and full of nutrition.
Although this soup is big on taste, it is low in calories, cholesterol, and carbohydrates.
In addition to the chickpeas, you get a ton of nutrition from the other ingredients! Adding zucchini, carrots, yellow squash, and red onion not only enhance the flavor of this soup but also add nutrient, autoinflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
Ingredients:
Two cups of dry split chickpeas
Eight cups of water
One teaspoon of salt
Three cloves of garlic
One zucchini
One yellow squash
Four medium carrots
One medium red onion
One teaspoon of paprika
One teaspoon of ground coriander
One teaspoon of ginger
One teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
One tablespoon of olive oil
Directions:
In a pressure cooker, add the rinsed split chickpeas, 8 cups of water, salt, and chopped garlic cloves. Cover and cook for 21-25 minutes until tender.
When finished, the chickpea should be almost melted and broken down. Set aside until later when you add the vegetables.
Clean the zucchini, yellow squash, carrot, and red onion. Dice the zucchini and yellow squash into small cubes. Then peel the carrots and cut into ¼ inch thin circles. Finally, dice the red onion.
In a pot over medium heat, add the extra virgin olive oil and red onion. Let cook for about 3 minutes until the red onion starts softening and turns pink. Then add your zucchini, carrots, yellow squash, and all the spices. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes.
By 5 minutes, the vegetables should start softening but not be tender as of yet. At his point, add the entire chickpea mixture to the vegetables. Mix well and let simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
By 15 minutes, the soup should be creamy. Remove from heat, and get ready to enjoy it!
If you like, at the time of serving, you can add a spoon of Greek plain yogurt, a squeeze of lime, and garnish with cilantro and green onion for some extra added flavor at the end.