Chickpea Rice Soup!

This is the easiest spin off chicken noodle soup I have ever made! No nasty prep work with raw chicken and no heavy fat/cholesterol to bloat your belly! .. Easy to digest, packed with protein, fiber and flavor and a perfect, satiating and warm meal!

I think this will be perfect for the upcoming fall months (am I jumping the gun since we still have 2 months of summer left?!) .. I am sad that I will be missing fall this year (my favorite!) .. as I will begin my travels, starting with Hawaii!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 medium onions – chopped
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 3-4 medium carrots diced
• 4 celery stalks diced
• 1-2 tsp crushed thyme
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1 can organic/rinsed chick peas
• pepper to taste
• fresh parsley
• 2 quarts of organic/no salt added vegetable brother
• 2 cups uncooked rice (I like to cook mine up with veg brother if I can but water is fine too! .. use whatever rice you prefer – jasmine or wild rice are both delicious in this recipe!)
• If you need salt in your food you will most likely want to add it .. we don’t add salt to our food and our taste buds have adjusted to NOT liking overly salted foods.. but you can do whatever you please!

Instructions:

1. In a BIG pot add garlic, onion, carrots, celery and add in a bit of veg broth (or oil if you use oil in your cooking!) .. use maybe 4 tbsp of veg brother or whatever it takes to not stick! Saute veg until soft (don’t burn them!)
2. Add vegetable brothand bring to a boil.
3. Cook up rice separately..
4. Add in rice and chick peas!
5. Serve with fresh parsley on top!
6. Store the soup for up to 1 week in the fridge (I would try to use it up in a few days!) .. or make a double batch and freeze for up to 1 month!
7. We paired this meal with a grilled cheese using vegan butter,  vegan cheddar cheese and Dave’s Killer Bread – all of which are refined/pre packaged and most definitely not health! But once in a while the are ‘OK’ .. This meal is delicious on it’s own, though! So if your goal is to help your tummy feel good, lose weight etc I would omit the grilled cheese and just eat an abundance of this heart soup!