Spiced Chick Pea Soup

Chick peas, spinach, and tomatoes simmered in savory herbs and spices, with homemade garlicky crostini...dinner is served! This soup is perfect on a cold winter's evening, and very hearty for being completely vegetarian. Quick and easy to make, and, you will have plenty leftover for tomorrow's lunch!

Spiced Chick Pea, Spinach, and Tomato Soup

You will need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons harissa (a versatile condiment well worth having on hand!)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

salt to taste (I did not need to add any)

1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed really well and drained
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of all water
1 can fire roasted tomatoes (regular diced tomatoes are fine too)
4 cups vegetable broth, warmed

Heat up the olive oil in a soup pot on medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and saute for a couple of minutes on medium heat. Then add the bay leaf, cumin powder, and dried herbs. Stir for a minute, then add the harissa paste and stir for another minute. Add pepper (and salt if you like), chick peas. spinach, and tomatoes with their can liquid as well. Stir well for two minutes. Add the warmed vegetable broth and bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a strong simmer and leave uncovered for 30 minutes. Fish out the bay leaf. At this point the soup is ready to serve!
Or, you could remove half the soup, puree it in the food processor or with an immersion blender, then add it back into the remaining soup - this gives it a wonderful thick consistency and the textures play off each other really well!
Toss in some croutons or any kind of bread when serving. Enjoy!