Garbanzo bean soup

 
                             Garbanzo Bean Soup
 
 Recipe By     :  FRESH FROM THE FREEZER by Michael Roberts
 Serving Size  : 9    Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Beans                            Soup
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    2 1/2  C             dried garbanzo beans
    3      T             olive oil
    1      large         onion -- finely diced
    1      small         carrot -- finely diced
    1      stalk         celery -- finely diced
    9      C             broth
      1/4  C             fresh lemon juice
                         To serve:
      2/3  C             sour cream
    3      T             chopped fresh dill
 
 Supposedly serves 9, what an odd number to see in the servings...
 1. Place the garbanzo beans in a bowl, cover with 3 inches of water and
 soak for at least 8 hours or up to 10.  Or for a quick cooking method,
 cover beans with boiling water and set aside to cook for 1 hour, then
 continue with the recipe.
 
 (What a lot of fuss..no wonder folks don't use dry beans....the easiest way
 is to soak your beans one night (in the fridge in warm weather so they don;t
 ferment), pour off the cooking water, dump into crock pot, cover with
 water, can add a piece of kombu, a sea veggie, and cook on low all day.
 drain, and freeze in freezer bags in use sizes (1 C, 2 C etc). To use, take
 the bag out and dump into soup pot with everything else.)
 
 2. Place oil in a 2 qt soup pot over med heat add onions and cook for 5
 min,  Add carrots and celery and cook another 5 mint.
 
 (Again I wouldn't bother, I'd swipe out the bottom of the pot with my trusty
 pastry brush and a little bit of oil, add the stuff and cook gently till
 softened)
 
 3. Add the drained beans and 6 C broth.  Cover, raise heat to high and
 bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook covered for 1 1/2 hours.
 
 (This is too much like work...I'd dump it into a crockpot and forget about
 it for a few hours)
 
 4. Puree
 
 5. Combine the puree, remaining 3 C broth and lemon juice in a 1 qt pot,
 Cover, bring to boil;l then reduce the heat.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Place
 a dollop of sour cream ( I'd use non fat plain yoghurt but one could use
 fat free sour cream, I suppose) in each soup bowl, sprinkle with dill and
 pour hot soup into the bowls.
 
 To freeze:  Allow the  pureed beans to cool to room temp. Refrigerate until
 thoroughly chilled then freeze up to 6 months.  To serve, defrost and finish
 as in Step 5.
 
 of course, I'd put garlic into this soup or serve it with Garlic Bread by
 the Empress of Garlic and a salad.
 Comments by Gloriamarie