Two hearty legume soups: chicken soup with chickpeas and vegetable soup with beans

The recipe section of the Saturday supplement of the Latvian newspaper Diena features two soups built around legumes: a chicken broth soup with chickpeas and coriander, and a vegetable soup with beans.

Chicken broth soup with chickpeas and coriander

The recipe is described as a warming, fortifying soup, with fennel, lemon and coriander giving it a distinctive flavour. The source suggests serving it with baked cheese rolls or puff-pastry broth pies.

Ingredients include an onion, 3–4 garlic cloves, a fennel bulb, olive oil, ground coriander and cumin seeds, finely cut lemon zest, a handful of rice (about 80 g), hot chicken broth and 400 g of canned chickpeas. The author made the broth from chicken backs and a large chicken fillet, which she shredded and added at the end. The fillet can be replaced with drumsticks or thighs.

The onion is fried first in a pot, followed by garlic, fennel, spices and lemon zest. Once the vegetables are half-soft, rice is added, the pot is filled with hot broth and the soup simmers for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, fresh coriander is crushed in a mortar with garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Finally, chickpeas, shredded chicken and the coriander mixture are stirred in, and the taste is adjusted with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Vegetable soup with beans

This soup is described as mild yet rich in flavour, and one that could appeal to both adults and children. A pre-cooked vegetable broth is recommended for better taste; if a vegetarian version is not essential, chicken broth can be used instead.

You will need a leek, a carrot, two small potatoes, about 500 ml of vegetable broth, a small zucchini, half a small can of red beans and a couple of cherry tomatoes. The leek, carrot and potatoes are fried in oil and butter, covered with broth and cooked for about 10 minutes. Zucchini is then added for roughly 5 more minutes, followed by the beans and tomatoes, which are simply heated through. The soup is served with parsley and olive oil.

The source adds that green beans, cauliflower or broccoli florets, or mushrooms can also be added.