Creamy Chickpea & Wild Rice Soup

Years ago in Chicago, I used to frequent this great little carryout spot called the SoupBox. They served 12 homemade soups every day and one of my favorite orders was their Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice soup in a bread bowl. In a city where you’re wearing a scarf for at least 8 months out of the year, a place like the SoupBox was a girl’s best friend.

I’ve always wanted to create a “plantiful” version of that soup in all it’s hearty glory and I think I’ve done it. I’m also experimenting and perfecting some plant-based, gluten-free baking recipes to share with you, so you’ll see that I have an actual bread bowl to serve my soup in!

If you are interested in the bread bowl recipe, check out the Gluten-Free Baking Academy’s Gluten-Free Bread Baking Course

Tools:
Large soup pot
Chef’s knife
Blender

Make about 14 servings of soup, so split the recipe if you want less, or freeze some for future dinners.

Ingredients:

Try to buy everything organic. Here’s why.

1 yellow onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 bay leaf
12 cups veggie stock (make your own)
3 cups cooked chickpeas, start with 1 cup dry (how to soak and cook)
1 1/2 cups wild rice (short- or long-grain)
1/2 cup cashews, soaked
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
1 1/2 tsp fine-ground sea salt or more to taste (use applewood smoked for extra flavor)
1/2 tsp fresh-ground pepper to taste
1/2 small, fresh lemon

Let’s get started.
1. Place onion, celery and carrot in a large pot with coconut oil. Warm to medium-high and stir together for 10 minutes.

2. Add garlic, thyme, sage and bay leaf to pot with veggies and stir together for 3 minutes.

3. Add veggie stock, chickpeas, and wild rice to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until rice is tender.

4. Using a ladle, scoop out 1 cup broth and transfer to the blender. Add one more scoop of soup to blender, with veggies and chickpeas (be sure the bay leaf isn’t in this scoop). Add cashews…

… and blend together until you get a nice, creamy purée.

Add back into soup.

5. Now, season with salt, pepper and liquid smoke if you like. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and serve warm.

Note: This soup gets better and better each day that the flavors can infuse together. It can be made up to 4 days in advance. Store in an airtight, glass container in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Now, I want to hear from YU. What do you think of this recipe? Tell us with a comment below.