Chickpea & Spinach Soup

This is a very quick and easy soup and it goes incredibly well with a loaf of fresh bread and some olive oil dipper.   Since you can use both canned chickpeas and frozen spinach, it is a meal that you can probably make right now if you check your cupboards and freezer.  I have added fresh ginger to this in the past, but prefer the lemon accent.  The small amount of added carrot isn't noticeable but it helps sweeten up the onions when cooking.

My Chickpea & Spinach Soup
Makes 4 Bowls

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
1 small carrot, shredded
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 low-sodium vegetable bouillon cube
2 1/2 cups hot water
1 19oz can chickpeas (garbonzo beans), drained and rinsed well
5 oz spinach, wilted and chopped (or 1/2 a block of frozen chopped spinach, cooked)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage (or 1/2 tsp dried ground sage)
juice of 1/2 a lemon (plus some optional zest)
olive oil drizzle (optional)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, sauté the onions and carrot in the olive oil until translucent.  Add the garlic and let sauté another minute.  Add the bouillon cube, water, chickpeas, spinach and S&P.  Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10- 15 minutes or until the onions have softened completely.  Remove from heat and stir in the fresh sage and lemon juice (if using dry sage, add along with the garlic).  Purée half of the soup, either in a blender or using an immersion blender (I finally killed my immersion blender, so I had to use my blender, making sure to cover the lid with a dish towel... trust me, hot soup spray hurts), and mix back into the remaining soup.  Like most soups, it tastes better after it sits a bit and it reheats very well.  When serving I like to drizzle a bit of olive oil and add some grated lemon zest to each bowl.

Enjoy!