chickpea noodle soup

Sometimes, a recipe doesn’t turn out the way you planned it to turn out.

Sometimes, the recipe is actually so horrible you must promptly toss it into the trash.

This was not one of those times.

Sometimes, recipes take a turn for the worse, and you get upset. You get angry, pout, and throw a fit. However, you still decide to eat it.

Sometimes, that recipe turns out even better than you thought it would.

That, my friends, was what happened to me tonight.

Chickpea Noodle Soup

Follow these instructions to a T to get the same results as me – delicious, creamy, thick soup.

• 32 oz. vegetable broth (I use TJ’s – it’s gluten free)
• 3 cups water
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 5-6 stems of bok choy, sliced into thin(‘ish) strips
• 1 serving gluten free elbow noodles
• 3 cloves garlic, minced and divided
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 piece bread, processed into bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. gluten free flour
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• spices to taste – pepper, salt, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley

Directions: First, chop your celery and carrots. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven and saute your vegetables and 2 cloves of your garlic over medium heat until tender. Add your vegetable broth, three cups water, elbow noodles and bok choy and turn heat down to simmer.

Next, you’ll want to make chickpea balls. To do this, you will need to process your chickpeas, bread, and gluten free flour into a food processor until almost smooth. Form mixture into small balls (about 25) and bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping once.

Add your chickpea balls and spices to taste to the soup. Simmer for approximately 15-20 more minutes.

My intentions were for this soup to be a mock “Italian Wedding Soup” after I saw Gabriela make some the other night. However, my chickpea balls did not stay together in the soup. I would say a total of 2-3 of them actually made it out intact.

However, I think it made the soup all the better. The melted chickpea balls turned this soup into an incredibly creamy, thick, delightful soup.

I don’t even know what to tell you if you want to save time by not making the chickpea balls. Just do what I did and get over the time you wasted making the chickpea balls. You’ll thank me later.

The flavors were rocking – and I think I ate three bowls.

I also had some beets on the side. You know what that means….

Question: Have you ever had a recipe “flop” and it actually turned out better than you ever expected?

Tagged as: chickpea noodle soup, recipe, soup