I had a few friends over yesterday for brunch, and everything turned out really quite delicious. This soup, for instance, has a great flavor from the bacon, but also some sweetness, I think probably from the onions. It’s also, not surprisingly, much more filling than a thinner soup, with all the vegetables and chickpeas in there, although you don’t even really notice the chickpeas that much, especially not flavor-wise. It’s really a fantastic soup!

Ingredients:

• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 cups raw spinach
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 15.5 ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 32 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
• parmesan cheese for garnish, if desired

By the time we get to adding the chicken to the recipe, we’ll want it to be cooked and chopped. You can cook it on the stove or bake it while the other ingredients cook in the first few steps, or use leftover shredded chicken from an earlier meal, it doesn’t really matter as long as it is no longer raw by the time we get to it.

Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat. Once brown and crispy, remove the bacon, leaving the grease behind.

Still over medium heat, cook the onions, mushrooms, and peppers in the bacon grease.

Steaming up the camera lens!

Cook until soft, 5-8 minutes, then add the garlic, spinach, paprika, and cumin, and stir together for 1 minute.

Getting nicely colorful.

Reduce the heat to low and add the chickpeas, celery, carrots, chicken, and seasoned salt. Pour in the chicken stock, stir together, and simmer 30 minutes.

Add the bacon back right before serving, then garnish each bowl with parmesan cheese, if desired.

I made mine Saturday, stored the soup and bacon separately, then reheated and served it Sunday, and it was excellent. Much as I am lazy about chopping vegetables, I will definitely be making this again in the future!

Chickpea Chicken Soup

Slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is.

• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 cups raw spinach
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced or shredded
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 25-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 32 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
• parmesan cheese for garnish, if desired

Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat. Once brown and crispy, remove the bacon, leaving the grease behind.

Still over medium heat, cook the onions, mushrooms, and peppers in the bacon grease. Cook until soft, 5-8 minutes, then add the garlic, spinach, paprika, and cumin, and stir together for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and add the chickpeas, celery, carrots, chicken, and seasoned salt. Pour in the chicken stock, stir together, and simmer 30 minutes.

Add the bacon back right before serving, then garnish each bowl with parmesan cheese, if desired.