Chickpea and Chard Soup

This soup is what happened when I couldn't decide between two different soups, Heidi Swanson's Chickpea Hot Pot and Eating Well's Aromatic Middle Eastern Soup.

My only complaint about the recipes on 101 Cokbooks is that they are often too sweet for us, and we all love the warmth of Middle Eastern spices. I had just this amount of bulgur to use, as well as a bunch of chard from our farm box so it was convenient, came together quickly and was absolutely delicious.

I had a number of lingering allium in the fridge, so I made this with a shallot, 1.5 leeks sliced into thin quarter-rounds, two spring onions sliced thinly and 2 stems of green garlic, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced. But that would be a high-maintenance recipe, and I think it will be equally delicious with the yellow onion and a shallot.

I made it the night before for a quick weekday dinner with salad and a loaf of crusty whole grain bread.

1.5 T EVOO

1 medium yellow onion, small dice

1 shallot, small dice

1 t each ground cumin, coriander

1/4 t each turmeric, salt, black pepper, ground ginger

1 pinch each cinnamon and aleppo pepper or chile pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup bulgur

5 cups veg bouillon* or low sodium chicken broth

1 can chickpeas, drained

3 c chard, stemmed and cut into thin ribbons

1 T lemon juice

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, add onion and shallot and saute till just softened. Add spices and garlic, stir and saute 1 minute.

Add 1 T water, saute, stirring, until water evaporates, and add bulgur. Stir until bulgur is well coated with spices and oil, and add the broth, bring to a simmer, and add the chickpeas. Bring to a simmer.

Simmer about 10 minutes, until the bulgur softens. Add the chard, stir and simmer till chard is tender. Add lemon juice and serve. If you are waiting a day to serve, add lemon juice when you reheat the soup to prevent the chard from turning gray.

* This is an easy recipe that makes TONS of bouillon that keeps well and stays very spoonable in the freezer. It's completely revolutionized my veg cooking. Use 1 t for every cup of water.