Creamy Chickpea Soup and Walnut Argula Pesto

Happy almost Friday! It has been one busy week so far and I am hoping for some down time this weekend. Despite the buzy-ness, I have had a time to make some wonderful dishes. The first I made by compiling a few different recipes I’ve found which resulted in creamy chickpea soup. The soup itself is vegan, but for Josh, I added some additional toppings/add ins. Josh’s soup:

Creamy Chickpea Soup (Vegan) (~ 3 servings)

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can chickpeas (chickpeas and liquid)
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• ½ teaspoon thyme, dried
• ¼ cup cashew cream
• Chives (optional)
• Sherry Vinegar (optional)

Additional optional toppings (non vegan):
Cheese
Cooked chorizo, pancetta or bacon (cook until crispy)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook three minutes until just starting to soft, add yellow squash. Cook an additional 3 or 4 minutes until veggies just start to brown. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds longer. Add chickpeas, vegetable broth and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Add cashew cream and utilize an immersion blender to puree soup (alternatively, work in batches using a blender). Top with additional thyme, chives, and sherry vinegar, if desired.

For non-vegan version, top with cheese. For non-vegetarian version, top with cooked chorizo.

We enjoyed our soup with bread for dunking and additional fruits/veggies on the side. It was very tasty (and even better reheated!).

I also made up my first batch of Pesto, Arugula Walnut Pesto. I found a recipe in a cookbook that I won from the fabulous Shannon quite some time ago. The outcome:

Did you make anything fun in the kitchen this week? Please share recipe links!! I’m always looking for new/different ideas. Enjoy your weekends!