Happy Spring! On this first day of Spring, I thought I would give you one last taste of a warm and spicy Winter Soup.
Let's start with the fun part of this soup... have a look at these, the Spicy Crunchy Chickpea Croutons. Brent just loved them!
Here's the recipe:
Gold Rush Butternut
Soup with Smoky Chickpea Croutons
(Adapted from http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2014/01/gold-rush-soup-chickpea-croutons
Ingredients:
1 large butternut
squash
2 large yellow onions
8 cloves garlic
2 tsp. ghee or coconut
oil, plus olive oil for garnish ( I used butter)
1 tsp. both sea salt
and cracked black pepper (to taste)
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. grated fresh
turmeric or 2 tsp. ground turmeric powder
2 tsp. each fresh / 1
tsp dried rosemary and thyme (optional)
1 batch Smoky Chickpea
Croutons (recipe below)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to
400°F.
2. Peel and cube the
butternut squash and place on a baking sheet. Peel and cut onions into quarters,
add to baking sheet. Peel whole cloves of garlic and add to baking sheet.
Drizzle with melted ghee or coconut oil and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place in oven and roast for
approximately 30 minutes until the squash is tender and the garlic is golden.
3. In a large blender
pour 3 cups hot vegetable broth, turmeric (fresh or dried) and add the finely
chopped rosemary and thyme. Carefully add the roasted vegetables and blend on
high until completely smooth (let blender run for a minute or so). If the soup
is too thick, add more broth to thin to desired consistency. Season to
taste.
4. Pour soup into
bowls and serve with a sprinkling of chickpea croutons and a drizzle of olive
oil. If necessary, pour into a large pot to reheat if necessary. Keeps
for 3 days in the fridge. Freezes well.
Smoky Chickpea
Croutons
Ingredients:
3 cups or 2 cans
cooked chickpeas – drained and well-rinsed
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground
black pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. smoked paprika
or ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to
400°F/200°C.
2. Spread chickpeas
out on a clean tea towel and rub them dry, discarding any loose skins. Place
the chickpeas in a medium bowl and toss with coconut oil, seasoning and spices
until coated.
3. Spread the
chickpeas on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast,
stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp. This takes about 25-35 minutes.
Please note that the chickpeas will crisp up outside of the oven quite a bit,
so if they are still a little soft when you take them out of the oven, that is
okay.
4. Remove from the
oven. Let cool, and serve at room temperature. Store in an airtight glass
container for up to one week.
Let's start at the beginning. First I roasted the veggies.
Then I rinsed and drained the chickpeas.
I didn't read the instructions properly, I thought it said to remove the skins on 'ALL' the chickpeas... that took a lot of time and I had to recruit my darling daughter to help.... but looking back at the recipe, it mentions to remove the 'lose' skins, oh, well, you live and learn!
There are the crunchy beauties, a real nice difference from the ordinary bread or cracker as the usual garnish!
Oh, and here is a closeup of the gorgeous golden soup. Nice, eh?
