Hearty Spinach Soup

The Quarantine Cooking Quest

Have you joined the quest for creating and eating quick, nutritious meals using your frozen foods and pantry ingredients? Let me help you with an easy, filling recipe! After your first spoonful of this hearty and delicious spinach soup, take a dip with your garlic breadstick and make your way over to the spicy, crunchy chickpeas! All you need to do now is get to the bottom of the bowl. See below for the recipe.

Yield: 4 servings

Hearty Spinach Soup

Ingredients

• 4 C frozen spinach

• 1-2 tbl Basil leaves (reduce amount if using dried basil)

• 1 1/2 C Canned Coconut milk

• 1/2 C Tomato sauce (I used a basil tomato sauce, you can use any kind, & simply increase the amount of basil)

• 2 tsp minced garlic

• 1 small onion medium diced

• 1 -2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)

• 1 tsp paprika

• 2 tbl olive oil

Baked spiced Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 can Chickpeas

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/3 tsp Smoked paprika

• 1 tsp Nutritional yeast (optional)

• 1/4 tsp Turmeric

• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

• 1-2 tsp Olive oil

• 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

• 1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)

• Bake 10-15 mins

Toasted breadsticks

Ingredients

• 3 Slices of bread

• 2 Tbl olive oil

• 2 tsp minced garlic

• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

For the Spinach Soup

1. Heat 1 to 2 tbl olive oil in a saucepan.

2. Add onions and saute until fragrant. Pour in the tomato sauce, garlic and other seasonings. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes then toss in the spinach and coconut milk. Stir to combine.

3. Cover and cook on medium low heat for approximately 20 mins.

4. Turn off heat and blend the soup using an emersion blender or transfer to a regular blender and puree until soup is smooth and creamy.

5. Serve with baked spiced chickpeas and garlic breadsticks. I also added a drizzle of chili oil for some extra heat.

For the Baked Chickpeas

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. Toss all of the ingredients in a bowl, evenly coating the chickpeas with your spices.

3. Add to a baking pan and bake for approximately 15- 20 minutes. It depends on how crunchy you will like them to be.

For the Breadsticks

1. Mix garlic, salt and olive oil in a bowl.

2. Using a basting brush or spoon, evenly spread your garlic oil on the bread. Pop in the oven with the chickpeas for approx 5 minutes using broil for the last minute until the edges are golden brown.

3. Cut them into sticks and serve dipped in the soup.