Chickpea soup

Chickpea. I used to hate it with all my heart. Whenever I heard my mom saying we'd have chickpea for the next day, I ran fast to my room and counted the money that I was saving in my piggy bank. The next day, a juicy gyros sandwich would save me from starvation. As the years passed, and my hunger became bigger, I started eating chickpea. In indian salads, in vegetable patties (chickpea patties (aka revythokeftedes)), in soups and houmous. Chickpea is a legume with high nutritional value due to the high amount of protein that it contains. It is also low on fat and most of this fat is polyunsaturated. So include it in your diet people! Here's a yummy chickpea soup that is cooked in almost every greek and italian house.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 cup chickpea

1 garlic clove, minced

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped

1 big carrot, minced

3 celery stalks, minced

3-4 cups chicken broth

3/4 can tomato juice

1 bay leaf

1 tbs tomato paste

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

Prepare: Put the chickpea in a bowl filled with warm water and leave overnight. The next day put the chickpea in a pot, add water and let them boil for 15 minutes. When ready, drain them and set aside. 

Prepare soup: Add the olive oil in a pot. Add the chopped onion and let it sizzle. Once ready, add the garlic clove and keep stirring so that the garlic won't get bitter. After 1 minute, add the rest of the ingredients, but not the salt. Cover the pot and let it boil for 45 minutes in low-medium heat. Add the salt and continue boiling for 15 minutes. And TADAAAA! Your soup is ready!

Serve with toasted bread slices that you have rubbed with garlic, or/and with greek yoghurt/smetana. Enjoy!