This year’s Vegetarian Summerfest, put on annually by the North American Vegetarian Society, was five wonderful days with many vegan food options, personal contact with world-class speakers, cooking demos, entertainment and exercise of all kinds and — my new favorite pastime — bird-watching.
This soup, created by festival chef Mark Reinfeld, was served at lunch one day at the fest in Johnstown, Pa. Returning home, I made several versions of it before almost capturing his version. And — wouldn’t ya’ know — when I mentioned my experiments to a fellow festival attendee, he said, “Oh, they would have given you the recipe, if you had asked.” He also told me that it appears in Reinfeld’s book, “Vegan Fusion World Cuisine,” and so I altered my version to match his.
The soup is so rich and flavorful that I’ve enjoyed it as a sauce over vegetables and even as a pasta topping.
Tip: If you find yourself with a jar of tahini that is hard toward the bottom, with inches of separated oil at the top, whiz it in a blender before measuring.
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Middle East chickpea soup
Prep: 30 minutesCook: 25 minutesMakes: 12 cups, about 12 servings
Adapted from “Vegan Fusion World Cuisine” by Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi. If cooking dried chickpeas for the recipe, 1 2/3 cups dried cooks up to about 5 cups. If using canned, you will need about 3 cans (14 to 16 ounces each).
3 cups each: vegetable broth, water
2 cups chopped yellow onion, about 2 medium onions
1 cup chopped celery, about 3 ribs
3 tablespoons minced garlic, about 6 cloves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
5 cups cooked chickpeas, homemade (or canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed)
3/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1
Place the broth and water in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes. Turn off the heat; stir in the cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, soy sauce, lemon juice and 3 cups of the chickpeas.
2
Working in batches, pour mixture into a blender; add the tahini all at once in the first batch. Blend until mostly smooth. Stir the mixture back into the pot. Add remaining 2 cups chickpeas. Cook over low heat until soup is hot, about 5 minutes. Do not boil, as the soup can curdle. Serve garnished with parsley.
Nutrition information per serving: 221 calories, 10 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 26 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 641 mg sodium, 7 g fiber