Soup's On!

This is what we enjoyed for dinner last night. Two new recipes that I have been working on and will be featured in the March/April 2006 issue of VegNews Magazine. (I'm sure their photos will be just a little more impressive than mine!)

The Lemon Chickpea Lentil soup is quite hearty and has warm, earthy tones of cumin and thyme. The Spinach-Fennel salad is drizzled with a Cumin-Cinnamon vinaigrette. We round out the meal with some whole-wheat & rye buns, slathered with Earth Balance margarine, or dredged in "Balsamic-Garlic Flax Oil" (p.44 from Vive le Vegan!).

I have made this soup with both canned organic chickpeas, and organic dry chickpeas (that I have cooked in advance). In my opinion, canned beans just do not have the same mellow, fresh flavor that you get from cooking dry beans. When I have the time to cook beans, I always appreciate their superior flavor.

I may tweak these recipes again before they appear in my article with VegNews, but making soup in these cold months is always rewarding!