Our Office Blog

Editor’s Note: the chickpeas and spinach really raised this soup from being “great” to “totally awesome” – good job Leanne, fantastic soup!

Having just been surprised by Corinne’s deep purple, fragrant, and altogether delicious Borscht, I figured I would have to be extra creative with my soup. I immediately began to rack my brain for some exotic, culturally unique recipe that I might have in my repertoire, but unfortunately Papua New Guineans do not have a  cultural soup, and thus I had to resort to internet surfing for a great idea. I still wanted it to have an international flair of some sort, but I knew not what. I love thick soups, they are far better than thin/watery soups in my personal opinion, and I knew it would be easier if I could find one specially geared for the crock pot already since I had Bible Study the night before and did not want to have to figure out what would get soggy if I left it in the crock pot, etc… With two pescaterians in the office, I also figured I should cater to them and not slip some sort of meat inside. With these four things in mind, I found this rather delicious recipe from TheKitchn which carries an Indian flair, a very Americanized Indian dish…but all the same, delicious and unique. I really wanted to make naan to go with the recipe, but it was that or Bible Study, and I figured making naan was not a legitimate reason to skip. :)

I didn’t change much about this recipe (strange for me, as I tend to be the kind of cook to “follow” a recipe and then modify it a trillion different ways), holding only the bellpepper (DISGUSTING!!) and chili, and adding extra garlic- you can never have too much garlic! Even without all these ingredients, the recipe was delicious and well received by the office. One note: don’t forget the coconut milk, it really does make the soup!
— Leanne

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon curry powder
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno chili (or other hot chili), seeded and minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 (16-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juices
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 10-ounces baby spinach
• 1 cup coconut milk

Instructions

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion with one teaspoon of saltuntil translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and another teaspoon of salt, and sauté until just translucent around the edges.

Stir in the curry, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and chili and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in 1/4 cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Pour this onion-potato mixture into the bowl of your slow cooker.

To the slow-cooker, add the rest of the broth, chickpeas, bell pepper, cauliflower, tomatoes with their juices, the pepper, and the final teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine. The liquid should come half-way up the sides of the bowl; add more broth as necessary. Cover and cook for 4 hours on HIGH.

Stir in the spinach and coconut milk. Cover with lid for 1 minute to allow the spinach to wilt. Taste and adjust salt and other seasonings as needed.

Serve on its own or over cous cous, Israeli cous cous, or orzo pasta.