you must make this soup...now

I love soup. Even more, I love making soup. It brings me such joy. Probably because it's all one gobbly-goopy mess anyway, so I don't have to worry much about precision, that is, cutting and chopping things just so. Making soup suits the messy side of my personality just perfectly. Anyway, enough of the introduction. Here is one of my favorites, which I have been meaning to share here for a while now, just like everything else in my head. This one's easy, though; the rest of the head stuff will take a while to sort out into blogs. But stay tuned because those will be fun to read, of course.

Anyway, I digress. This soup, my friends, is creamy-schmemy goodness down to the last scraping of the spoon -- or licking of the bowl, whichever strikes your fancy. It's from Jamie Oliver's (aka, The Naked Chef) cookbook, which was given to us as a gift by Shaun's sister Liz several Christmases ago. You'll be happy to know, Liz, that the soup has become a family favorite. And Jean and Jill, it is only 4 Weight Watchers points per serving. Can I get a 'woop, woop?'

Okay, seriously, here is the recipe:

Serves 6

12 oz chickpeas, soaked overnight (for moms of 2-year-olds, I recommend using the canned variety, which is much quicker and doesn't involve the possible risk of spilled dried chickpeas all over the kitchen floor)
1 medium potato, peeled (I sometimes skip this)
5 medium leeks (leeks are so yummy; they look like a giant green onion and taste like one too)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter (I use low fat if I'm being good ;-))
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I use chicken)
Parmesan cheese, grated (again, low fat if you want it to be lighter)

How to create a warm and fuzzy bowl-o-goodness:

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, cover with water, and cook with potato until tender. (Again, I suggest using canned chickpeas and even skipping the potato...it's faster). Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from the root up, wash carefully and slice finely.

Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the oil and butter. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan,and cook gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet. Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute. Add about 2/3 of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

Now big decision, people. Huge. Life-changing: Decide if you want to puree the soup in some sort of processor (I usually just mash some of it by hand with a potato masher or you could use a hand blender instead of toting out the processor, you know) -- whether you want to leave it chunky and brothy. Jamie says his preference is to puree half and leave the other half whole. And I like Jamie, so I do what he does. Now, add enough remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like. Check for seasoning, and add Parmesan to tast to round off the flavors.

I'm telling you, you will love it. It's not a cream-based soup, but the chickpeas are so hearty that it almosts tastes like one. Anyway, go forth and make soup and leave your comments/reviews here...but only if they're positive, because my heart would really be broken if you didn't like it.

Seriously.


Well, kind of.

curry in a hurry

Okay, here's a quick and easy chicken curry dish. I love curry, so I was thrilled to find this in the latest issue of Real Simple magazine. Enjoy!

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 sm yellow onion, thinly sliced (you could always get pre-chopped in the produce section)

2 tsp curry powder

1/2 c plain yogurt

3/4 cup heavy cream (You could always use half-and-half to make it lighter)

1/2 tsp Kosher salt (I used the good ol' plain stuff)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, drained (optional...and I opted to skip these)

1 rotisserie chicken (of course, I had to complicate things and get fresh chicken to cook)

2 c cooked white rice (I used Basmati; Jasmine would also be great or couscous)

1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (I skipped this!)

Heat oil in skillet. Add onion, cook, and stir for 7 minutes. Sprinkle curry powder, stir, and cook for another minute. Add yogurt and cream and simmer gently (isn't this redundant?) for 3 minutes. Stir in salt, pepper, and tomatoes (if using). Remove from heat. Slice or shred chicken. Top rice with chicken then sauce and sprinkle with cilantro. Voila! Oh, and I actually mixed the chicken in the sauce and then topped the rice. Dee-lish!

Brupper

Tonight we had brupper, which consisted of scrambled eggs topped with cheese, turkey bacon, and toast, at 7 pm. It was a quiet rebellion against all of the more appropriate choices swirling around in my head of what I should cook for supper. It was actually SD's idea. I remember doing this as a kid, and it was exciting. Like, you mean we're going to have fried eggs and biscuits for supper? We can't do that. Oh yes we can. Okay, so I'm treading the plank, about to go overboard here, I know. Just thought it was worthy of mentioning. Brupper. Mmmm, good.

The babe is getting along smashingly these days, if you wondering (and I know you are). These are what I have fondly termed "days of redirection." Allow me to elaborate:

Eli (briskly crawling to nearest shelf, chair, Christmas tree, electrical outlet -- insert possibly fatal object of choice): Na, na, na, na (which I have figured either means mom, I want something, or a combination of the two)

Mom (quickly arriving on scene to fetch child): Eli, what are you doing?

E (basking in the mischief that is his, all his, to create): Heh.

M (remaining upbeat while strategizing): Eli, look at this (pointing to any one of the gajillion bright and very lonely toys strewn on the rug).

E (pondering the proposition): Hah (even louder than at first).

M (now fetching child and moving to safer environment): Come on, Eli, look at this...ooh, aahhh, wow, ooh... (am losing brain cells by nanosecond and all abilities to speak intelligently).

E (briskly crawling to nearest shelf, chair, Christmas tree, electrical outlet, insert possibly fatal object of choice): Na, na, na, na...

::

Oh, the times, they are a changin'. And we're lovin' every minute. On a somber note, I just read a headline that James Kim, the missing father of the family who had been stranded in Oregon, was found dead. I am deeply saddened to hear this. I guess some stories just don't have happy endings.

More news from us coming to a blog near you very soon. Sending love from the Lone Star...