Lebanese Vegetable Soup

Tonight I had the delight of trying another Moosewood Soup. A work friend of mine – we’ll call her the Malaysian Princess – lent me her copy of “Sunday’s at Moosewood Restaurant” after hearing me rave about the Minestrone in the Moosewood book we own. Another work friend – soccer playing scoundrel – saw the book and instantly pointed out her favourite recipe to me.. Lebanese Vegetable Soup. I took note of the page number (#69! So easy to remember!) And here we are a few days later, full bellied and oh so satisfied. This is only the second Moosewood recipe I have tried, both have been soups and both have been wonderful! I am definitely a fan of these books.

Before we get started, just a quick note about our food choices since this is a new blog. We try to use organic ingredients wherever possible. We buy all our fruit and veg from an organic farmers market each Saturday, and always choose organic supermarket options over non organic. All our chocolate, coffee and tea is fair trade as well as organic. While chef extraordinaire is not vegetarian he does try to make ethical choices about his meat production where possible. We try to stay away from processed foods whenever we can.

So here we go..

(Note: The bare-chested chef is an optional ingredient!)

Lebanese Vegetable Soup
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant
(Serves 8 generously)

1 large Spanish onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped (2 1/2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1-teaspoon ground coriander seeds
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes
1-teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4-5 cups vegetable stock (bare-chested chef makes his own using a meat grinder to mince the veggies)
2 large tomatoes
10 artichoke hearts cut into eighths
3/4 cup canned or cooked chick peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 lemons cut into wedges

Method:

In a large soup pot sauté the onions in the olive oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots. Cover. Stir again after 3 minutes. Add the ground red pepper, coriander and garlic. Cover and cook for a few more minutes. Add the potatoes, salt and 2 cups of the stock.

Cover the pot and bring the soup to the boil. Reduce the head and simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender. Be careful not to overcook them. Gently stir in the tomatoes, artichoke hearts and cooked chickpeas. Salt to taste. Cover and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes, just to heat the tomatoes. Add the remaining 2 – 3 cups of stock or even more if a brothier soup is desired. Heat gently. It is important not to overcook or boil this soup. The potatoes, tomatoes and artichokes should be heated just enough to blend the flavors or they might lose their shape and disintegrate.

Sprinkle each serving with fresh parsley and garnish with a wedge of fresh lemon.

The great thing is that is was ready in less than half an hour (though this is because we used canned chick peas, if you are using dried it will take longer than that).

Enjoy! We sure did!