More songs and soup

Right now (and pretty much all week), I am listening to this song, from this album.



Pls forgive cheesy slide show above, as there appears to be no "official" video and I'm just looking to share the song. The alternative was a slide show with pictures of leaves and flowers and crap like that.

I am way behind the curve on this album, which I acknowledge, but I hadn't really had an urge to look into it, having heard maybe one song on the radio before, which didn't really grab me. But then I heard the above song when I was in Austin a couple weeks ago (thanks KGSR, I miss ya), and just loved it. Acquired the album (we won't say how, ahem) and now can't stop listening to it. Lovely lovely.

Since writing this is taking away from my sleepy time, I'll get right to a recipe I've been meaning to post for a long time. I've officially now made it more times than I can count, which means it's the bees knees and you should have it. It uses a lot of stuff I almost always keep in my pantry, and it also employs my stick blender, which I find to be so helpful in the kitchen that I've considered marrying it.

Spiced Chickpea and Tomato Soup (from an old issue of Martha)

3 garlic cloves, minced
3 dried hot red chiles, chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (obvs I do the latter here)
1 teaspoon ground coriander (I leave this out. Certainly if you have coriander, you should add it, but I don't use it for any other cooking, and it's expensive, so I don't bother. But at 1 teaspoon, that would affect the flavor a lot. Hrm. If you end up using it, let me know how it turns out.)
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/8 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 can chickpeas (15 ounces), drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups crushed canned tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup drained jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
sour cream, for serving (I don't bother with this, but I DO have to have bread on hand when I eat it. Ideally a loaf of crusty french bread or rosemary flat bread. It helps cut the spicy.)

Using a mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon, crush garlic, chiles, coriander, salt, and caraway to form a paste.



Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic mixture, and cook until just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in chickpeas, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and stock. Simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.



Working in batches, puree soup in a blender (or use an immersion blender, like I do). Top bowls with a dollop of sour cream (if you want - again I don't bother).

My Aunt Cynthia will recognize that version of the recipe as I just copied and pasted it from an email I sent to her. Ha! Yeah, I'm tired.