Moroccan Tomato and Chickpea Soup

Jam-packed with many different spices inspired by our previous Middle Eastern workplace, you’re going to enjoy this soup like no other tomato soup before.

What makes this soup so good is it’s not only perfect for followers of a vegan diet but also people going through their weight loss journey, detoxing, gluten free, diabetic and hungry for something filling and satisfying.

Before I share this amazing recipe allow me to quickly explain the amazing benefits of chickpeas:

What are chickpeas?

Chickpeas are a seed and a legume, some my know it as gram, or garbanzo bean. It’s incredibly high in protein and fibre, and has existed for over 7,500 years. You can enjoy them cooked and eaten in salads, stews or grounded into flour. You can also make delicious hummus, felafels, and the healthiest way, eat them as sprouts.

Why are they so good for you?

Chickpeas are awesome for you because they are a carb, complete protein (when combined with other grains) and a good fibre source.

According to USDA, in just one cup of boiled chickpeas you consume a whopping 14.5g in protein, 44g in carbs of which 12.5g are soluble fibre, 4g of super healthy fatty acids and only 269 calories!

They’re also a fantastic source for important vitamins such as:

• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Thiamine
• Folate
• Vitamin A precursor b-carotene.

But wait there’s more! Chickpeas have several health benefits too especially when combine with other pulses and grains, they provide many beneficial effects on important human diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, digestive disease, and some cancers, just to name a few.

Worried about beans making you gassy? Don’t stress because the best way to consume chickpeas is by boiling them and before you do that simply soak them overnight in water with a tiny bit of baking soda to draw out the raffinose. Then toss the water out and before cooking them. You shouldn’t have any gas problems there after.

If you’re consuming tinned chickpeas, then to avoid becoming flatus is to enjoy some peppermint tea afterwards and you’ll have no problem.

What’s the best way to enjoy them?

There are too many ways to enjoy chickpeas so I’ll name some of the most popular ones to date, which are:

• Falafels Wraps with hummus and veggies

• Roasted veggies with Roasted Chickpeas

• Smashed Chickpea and Avocado Sandwich

• Chickpeas burgers

• Roast Pumpkin and walnut chickpea Salad

• Chocolate Chip Chickpeas Blondie’s

• Moroccan Chickpea and lentil soup

• Tomato, chickpeas and coconut soup

• Roasted chickpeas

• Sprouted chickpeas

• Pasta with chickpeas

• Rice with chickpeas

• Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough

• Hummus

• Mexican dishes with chickpeas

I could spend hours writing, but there are seriously too many awesome was to consume chickpeas and their amazing benefits!

So I’ll add one of my most recent dished with chickpeas and boy, was it delicious. It was a:

Moroccan Tomato and Chickpeas soup

Serves 2, prep and cooking time= 30mins

Macros Per Serve:
(406.5 Calories, 6.4 fats, 0.9g saturated, 58.8g Carbs, 15.3g fibre, 2.2g sugar, 17.7g protein) 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chickpeas, pre-cooked
• 1 cup brown lentils, pre-cooked
• 1 can organic tinned tomatoes (no added salt)
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1/3 cup red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup red capsicum, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• ¼ cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 cup Veggie stock
• 2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

Directions:

1. Sauté in a large pan, garlic, onion, carrot, celery, with olive oil until soft
2. Add spices to the onion mixture and stir to coat
3. Add in the stock, lemon zest, tomatoes, and capsicum, then bring to boil
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered until veggies are soft
5. Add in chickpeas and lentils, parsley and coriander and stir well
6. Season with salt and cracked pepper, and add chilli or harissa if desire
7. Serve and enjoy!