Chickpea Stew

Ingredients: canned chickpeas, chicken thighs, roasted red peppers, tomato paste, cumin, garlic, olive oil, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, kosher salt, lemon juice, water, Italian parsley

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This recipe caught my eye in this month's Bon Appetit magazine. I've been recovering from the flu this past week, so all I've been craving is soup and stews - this is perfect if you're in the mood for something hearty, warm, and comforting. It's incredibly filling and almost like a Lebanese gumbo. The flavors are perfectly middle eastern with the smokiness of the cumin mixed with the tangy spike of lemon juice and the earthiness of the bay leaves.

I followed the recipe to a tee, except that I omitted the jarred roasted red peppers and roasted my own fresh ones. This also called for serving the soup with some cubed, day-old artisan bread, placed at the bottom of the bowl, but it works just fine without it (or, you can grill some and use for dipping!). The fresh Italian parsley makes a world of difference, throwing some on each bowl just before serving. And you can also add as much fresh lemon juice as you want, I doubled the amount it called for and I could've still used more.

The stock and base for the soup was just a simple tomato paste / water mixture which yielded so much flavor and opens up the possibilities of all sorts of hearty variations (compared to your average chicken or vegetable stock).