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! :)
20 comments:
This looks so good, I love when there's a photo to go with the recipe (once again).
You really are trying to get us all to purchase hand-blenders, huh?! I trust you with everything else cooking/food related, so hey, why not.
I'm a huge fan of the hand-held blender, as well. I was given one by my dad, who had purchased one on the televised advice of Alton Brown.
I was cruising your archives and was pleased to see that the Tabasco Chipotle was vegan. I had some, and loved it, and then (oops!) remembered to check the ingredients. I was displeased to see "natural flavors" there, and then promptly forgot to call and check. Thanks for verifying the vegan-friendliness of it!
For once, I am GLAD you posted something from TEV, because I just ordered it on Amazon! woo-hoo! I also got 'Meat Market'. I am super excited...can you tell?
Dreena! I made you soup from VegTimes last nigh and it is SO DELICIOUS!! I love it! My Everyday Vegan arrived in this weekend too. I made the caramel squares- they are amazing. Don't think my caramel turned out as it was supposed to but they are good anyway. I don't really need any other cookbooks now. I pretty much stick to yours. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Alright..maybe I should get a hand blender..
The soup looks fabulous. The last 2 cups of frozen chickpeas are being considered for a final recipe, and this is up there on my possibility list!
Hi, The soup does look delish. I'll have to get the cookbook. Right now I'm using Vive on a regular basis, especially the pancake, oatmeal and cookie recipes.
I tried e-mailing you earlier but it bounced back. My question was regarding the carob chip muffins. Can I replace the barley flour for spelt?
Warm wishes,
Sweet Pea
Thanks Leslie... yes, first I'm pushing chocolate, and now handblenders (you'd think I have shares in Braun - but not!) I DO think you'd love it, though - esp because you like to experiment with food, and you like smoothies and such!
Hi vegan vulcan, yes! - another supporter of the hand blender. I use mine more than anything I think. I use my food processor a lot too. They are my two indispensable kitchen tools!
Hey, thanks, Julie! I will be posting more recipes from TEV here and there, so you may get inspired to try a recipe or two from some of the pics! I will be doing a lot of new recipe photos too, so I can get this book in order! Great to hear you ordered Meat Market too - you'll find it an eye-opening read I think.
Tina, you are my first "official" impartial tester/feedback of that recipe. So nice to hear, thanks! Very kind of you to say about my books... thanks. :)
Ahh, I almost have you too Jess! "Get a handblender, get a handblender"... btw, this recipes uses roughly 3 1/2 cups of chickpeas (or 2 cans).
Hi sweetpea, arrgh, I have been having troubles with that e-mail it seems. If you try again, e-mail to dreena@everydayvegan.com - then, if it bounces back to you, will you let me know? - thanks. Re the flours, yes, I use barley/spelt almost interchangeably. Sometimes I find I need a touch more spelt than barley if substituting for a recipe normally calling for white/wheat flour, but not always. I would go ahead and sub equal amounts, should be okay (what is the recipe, btw)?
Talking about pushing, this lady got me buying a hand blender! I just got a cheap one, but now that I know how cool it is, I'm thinking of upgrading. I used it today to blend the cannellini bean yam hummus and it was awesome! Cleaning was a breeze!
Oh, and not to forget- the hummus was awesome, too... and the pineapple lemon bars!
Ok, now everyone is going to think that I also have shares in Braun. I swear I don't! The hand blender is a must- but the better product is the Braun multi-mix blender. It is a regular electric beater that switches to the hand blender feature and also has a mini food processor attachment that is perfect for mixing spices and salad dressings. If you look up Braun mulitmix on Amazon.com you will see it. I used it in place of a food processor until about a month ago.
3.5 cups- thanks for the heads up! I'll copy it down and add it to my folder and use something else for my last two cups first (no offense it's just cheaper to do so currently).
The recipe was the Carob Chip Muffins from Vive.
By the way, what food processor do you have (how many cups)?
I've also e-mailed this message to dreena@everydayvegan.com just to test it.
Hi Kai... now, I've NEVER used it to make hummus - interesting, now you've got me thinking. I always use it for soups and smoothies mostly, oh, and salad dressings. I DID have to upgrade, only because I burned out 2 - yes 2 - other models. I had bought the model with the small mini chopper attachment which was about $30. I used the mini-chopper for chocolate chips and separate time burned out the motor. So, I got a stronger/bigger (?) motor in a model that still has the attachments, and the immersion blender is all steel. Anyhow, that's how much I use it!
You're funny Tina! As I just mentioned, I also have the model with the extra attachments. I don't use the mixer attachment at all, but I LOVE the mini processor. I use it for chopping large amounts of garlic, nuts, chocolate chips, small purees of beans or tofu, oh and when I was making a lot of baby food too. It's super!
No offense taken, Jess - I do the same thing. I usually have some small batches of beans in the freezer in 2 or 3 cup portions, so sometimes I try to find a recipe that will use the amount I have (or that uses 1 or 2 cans of beans). Totally relate on that!
Hello! I'm back! :)
This is great! One I will have to try! :)
I tried to do my version of Goddess Dressing last night...only made a little bit, so I will use it for my lunch on top of a greens salad. Today I am having easy Green Beans with Olive Oil and Thyme.
I have a lot to post since I have been away and busy and will be busy so later today I will do that soon! I did just post about my yoga purchase as well as a few MISC Notes. I did get to go to the WFC and pick up the VegNews issue! YAY!
Hope your weekend was nice!
Hi sweetpea - your e-mail came through, so it looks like (for some reason) e-mails to dreena@everydayvegan.com work (but not with dreena@dreenaburton.com). Anyhow, yes, the spelt should sub fine for the barley flour in that recipe (and duh - how did I not see you mentioned those muffins in your original comment?!) Let me know how they turn out! My food processor is an older Braun model - I think it is a 7-cup - I know there are larger capacity processors on the market now. Are you shopping for one?
Hi Harmonia... I've already been on your blog and am now wanting that Karen Voight yoga video!! You'll have to let us know what it's like!
Hi Dreena,
Now I've got a machine for you to try...the Vita Mix! You would absolutely LOVE it!! It really is an amazing machine and you can mix everything in seconds.
But, I also agree with you about the hand blender. It's fabulous and I use it all the time for soups. I also use it to puree canned tomatoes right in the can!
Julie
How much do I love this blog? All the great tips everyone shares is so awesome! Julie, I love the idea of blending the tomatoes right in the can! Brilliant! Thanks!
Hi Julie... I agree with Tina - that IS brilliant!!! I have taken a knife to cans of tomatoes in the past, and just cut them up a little in the can, but that idea is so great!! Do you drain off a little juice from the can just so it doesn't splatter everywhere?
So, with the Vitamix, Julie, what do you use it for that you don't use a food processor/handblender for? I know a lot of people LOVE them, and I've seen ads and considered them, but I know they are a bit pricey and I'm unsure just how much I would use it... what do you use it for mostly? This is such a great exchange of info!! How was your Portland VegFest btw?? - I know Jess from Get Sconed was there doing some volunteering (she mentioned it a few posts ago).
Dreena, I baked the Carob Chip Muffins and while they taste very good and there is just the right amount of sweetness, they don't look so good. I used two mini muffin pans because I thought it would be so cute for my daughter to have her own muffin without me cutting it into half or quarters. I was overly generous when I put the batter in the tins and I didn't use liners. I may not have used enough oil when I oiled the pans or I was too generous with the batter. While they're not asthetically (sp?) pleasing I still think they're delish. Next time I'll follow the instructions and not experiment. :-)
As I write this the Molasses Baked Beans from Vive are baking in the oven and they smell SO good. We plan on eating them over some brown rice and asparagus on the side.
And yes, I'm shopping around for a food processor. I know that I probably only need a 7 cup one but I'm eyeing the 14-cup food processor from Cuisinart.
Hi sweet pea! Ah well, sometimes as long as they tase good, who cares how they look? As long as Martha isn't coming for tea! :) Anyhow, I think if you had some little liners for the small muffin tins, they would have been fine (less baking time needed for smaller muffins too, but you probably did that). I always use liners, just easier to remove the muffins and for clean-up.
If I were getting a new processor, I would go for the larger capacity too! Hope you liked the beans, btw!
I made this recipe tonight for the first time and it was amazingly delicious! I can't believe I had waited this long to try it - I have owned The Everyday Vegan for over a year now! Anyway, thank you for such a wonderful recipe, it will become a regular with my family. My husband ate 3 bowlfuls and was raving the whole time.
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