Chickpea Mash Stew

This weekend I made my Chickpea Mash Stew from TEV. This soup combines chickpeas with canned diced tomatoes, zucchini, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and a savory mix of seasonings including dried mustard, sage, tamari, blackstrap molasses, and fresh thyme.

The fresh thyme is added just before serving and it really accentuates the flavors in the soup and brings them to life! I have a small shrub of fresh thyme growing in my garden - and before you ask - I do not have a green thumb! I'm sure you can grow thyme yourself in your garden or a little window pot... give it a try! Far cheaper than buying sprigs in the grocery store, and we will soon see lots of little herb plants selling in our stores for spring (try to buy organic).

Anyhow, back to the soup. When TEV was published, a friend starting making this for her two young children. They absolutely loved it and it became their favorite meal! They still ask for it and she loves to make it for them because it's so very healthy, the ingredients are usually on hand... and well, it's easy!

Now, in my recipe I mention that you can mash the soup (with a potato masher) or lightly puree it. Of course, I must tell you that pureeing it - just a teeny bit - with a hand blender is the way to go! And, unlike other soups I've posted about, don't puree this one throughout, just give it a whiz in spots here and there to blend the ingredients a wee bit. As you can see in the photo, the soup retains a chunky consistency - that's what you want! In fact, a tip is to reserve about 1/2 cup of the chickpeas and add them after you've "spot-pureed" to keep more whole chickpeas in the soup!

P.S. On another note, I realized over the weekend that I hadn't checked the comments posted on my other blogs - Cooking with Dreena & Dreena's Posted Recipes - ooooops! So, sorry if you asked a question and were thinking "huh, not very responsive"!... I've now answered any questions there and I will check back more often! :)