Soup To Feed My Soul

It's my turn to catch a cold. The kind that makes you tired and unmotivated, gives you a stuffy head, and a sore throat. YUCK! Nothing other than school has been done (and I think we "forgot" to do some things in my tiredness). I don't keep the children on task as well when all I want to do is cuddle up under a blanket with a cup of tea and read until I drift off to sleep.

But we now have 5 loads of laundry to fold and put away. The house desperately needs a vaccum, the bathrooms need cleaning, and the kids room needs to be cleaned up! Whew, I need a nap just thinking about it! MacGyver comes home from work tonight and I like to have the house picked up... but not this time. We might just make a path to walk through...

I did manage one good thing however - Winter Greens Soup with Chickpeas! Ummm... if the antioxidants in this soup don't heal me I don't know what will! This is the second time I've made it and it's even better than the first. Now you should know, I did not grow up eating collard greens and chickpeas, but I have wonderful friends and in-laws who have introduced me to such fine foods as these. The pictures helped convince me to make it too. This is from the blog Wednesday's Chef. Thank you to her!

Soup Directions:

First you saute the carrots, celery, and onion until it's a golden brown color and very aromatic, about 20 minutes. Next add 4 cloves of minced garlic. Stir until fragrant, 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the mixed greens, one big handful at a time. Stir and allow the greens to soften and shrink before you add the next handful.



Now add 8 cups water, 1/2 tsp salt, the rosemary and the chickpeas. You can add the rind of a Parmesan cheese if you have one around. Bring this to a simmer over medium-high heat, then cover and decrease temperature to simmer until the broth is deeply flavored, about 45 minutes to one hour.



When your ready to serve, stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Place 2 slices of toast (rubbed with garlic) in the bottom of each soup bowl and ladle the soup over top. Sprinkle with more parmesan as you like. Enjoy!!

Winter Green Soup with Chickpeas

1/4 cup olive oil
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1 turnip, diced (I didn't use one since I didn't have one.)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound chopped mixed greens (mustard, kale, turnip, etc.)
Salt
1/2 teaspoon minced rosemary
1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or more, to pass at the table ( I used fresh Parmesan)
16 slices baguette, toasted, or whatever bread you have
Freshly ground pepper (one option is red pepper flakes)