Vegetable Soup w/ Chickpea Dumplings

This super simple soup recipe is a winner.  Being in the cold snow made me want soup for lunch as soon as Preston and I got back on Sunday.  We took a pit stop at the store to grab some ingredients, and I got home and started making soup.

I pulled up a recipe I’ve been dying to make: chickpea flour fritters.  I made a really simple and basic vegetables-in-broth soup and then dropped these yummy little chickpea fritters in.  A drizzle of hot chili oil on top, and I had a warming, satisfying, and healthy meal on the table in no time.

serves 4
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 small yam, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 C vegetable broth
1 1/2 C chickpea flour
1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
3 scallions, thinly sliced (plus more for garnish)

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the oil.  Add the onion, carrot, celery, yam, and garlic (you can do what Rachael Ray calls a “chop and drop” – just slowly add them to the pot as you finish chopping them.)  When they’re all in there, stir around and let them cook for a minute.  Then add the vegetable broth. 

Let the soup come to a simmer as you make the chickpea dumplings.  Combine chickpea flour, salt, baking powder, and scallions in a bowl.  Then slowly add 1/2 C water and stir until combined.  Using your hands, roll the batter into small round dumplings – I made mine a little smaller than a tablespoon.  Don’t pack them in too much as you roll – just roll them loosely.  They are pretty dense and they stay together really well.  No need to pack them.

Drop them into the soup, give it a stir so they’re all coated, and then cover the saucepan.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  Cut open a dumpling to make sure they’re cooked through.

Garnish with some extra sliced scallions and drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon chili oil on top of each bowl for some extra spice.

So good.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 402; Calories from Fat: 85; Total Fat: 9.4g; Saturated Fat: 1.5g; Sodium: 1244mg; Total Carbohydrates: 60.6g; Dietary Fiber: 15.6g; Sugars: 10.7g; Protein: 20.5g