Creamy Garbanzo-ball and Wild Rice Soup

  

I recently picked up some black short grain rice without any big plans on what I would use it for. The first thing that came to mind was coming up with a vegan friendly creamy chicken and wild rice soup. This sounded tasty and I was up to the challenge. 

I worked out all of the vegetables and also what the creamy dairy-free broth would be composed of, so the only thing left to figure was the chicken substitute. Chicken flavored bean balls would be fun, yes? Ah, yes, and I knew that garbanzo beans would be up to the task. 

The end result was creamy, hearty, and exactly what I was going for. My only complaint is that when I stirred the rice into the pot of gorgeous creamy white soup it discolored the broth a little bit. Of course this did not make the soup less delicious, it just made it a teeny bit less pretty for its closeup.

 

Creamy Garbanzo-ball and Wild Rice Soup

Serves 4

2 cups cooked short grain black rice (or wild rice, or blend of choice)

3 carrots, chopped

3 ribs of celery, chopped

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup of frozen peas

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tbsp dried parsley

2 bay leaves

5 cups water

2-1/2 not chick'n bouillon cubes

1 cup rice milk

1 cup firm silken tofu (1/2 package)(or more for a thicker soup)

3 tbsp chickpea flour

Garbanzo-balls

1 15 oz. can chickpeas

1/2 not chick'n bouillon cube

1/2 tbsp tahini

1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tbsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

3 tbsp water

1/2 cup chickpea flour

Spray soup pot with olive oil cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add onions and saute for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if onions start to stick. Stir in garlic and saute for another minute before mixing in carrots, celery, thyme, parsley, and bay leaves. Continue to saute, stirring often for 5 minutes. Add water and bouillon cubes and stir until bouillon dissolves completely. Turn up heat to bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Meanwhile start the garbanzo-balls.

Combine all ingredients except the chickpea flour in food processor and puree. Add in flour gradually and pulse until fully incorporated. The flour should dry out the mixture a little bit, but it should still be moist. The mixture should be easy to roll into balls, and shouldn't be overly sticky and moist. Spray a large non-stick skillet and heat over medium heat. Grab a heaping tablespoon of the bean mixture and roll into a ball and add into the skillet as you go. The mixture should make about 20 balls. Roll the garbanzo-balls around in the pan every 2 minutes or so, to brown all sides. You just want these to lightly brown and crisp up on the outside, but watch carefully to not darken them too much as this will dry them out. 

The garbanzo-balls should be done in 10-15 minutes, and by this time the veggies in the soup pot should be tender and ready to go. Remove the bay leaves and mix in the frozen peas. Puree rice milk, tofu, and chickpea flour in your blender and then stir into the soup pot. Lastly stir in your garbanzo-balls and rice and bring to temperature. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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I am submitting this soup to the March No Croutons Required blogging event, in which the theme is soups and salads featuring chickpeas. Vote for your favorite soup or salad starting March 20.

Don't forget to enter my Primal Strips giveaway, open until the end of the day this Friday, March 5!