Recipe...... Immune boosting Vegan Harira...

I discovered this Vegan Harira recipe in a newspaper supplement about 10 years ago and make throughout Autumn and Winter to boost my immunity and clear away colds...... working in a hospital i need all the help i can get. The soup contains Saffron which is a super disease presenter, anti-depressant and great for digestive health, Chickpeas (Garbanzos) which are full of Iron, and calcium , and  Coriander (Cilantro) which helps reduce blood pressure, aid digestion and help with menstrual symptoms.. among others

This is a really delicious, tasty version of the Moroccan soup which usually contains meat... this recipe is quick and very easy to follow. It does require canned chickpeas not dried as you also need the liquid!

All the ingredients and measurements are in England, English, but i am sure google can translate if needed.


Recipe

1 large bunch coriander
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 sticks of celery, finely sliced
2 teaspoons Cumin
3 x 400g can chickpeas (including liquid.... don't discard)
Generous pinch of saffron
1 dark vege stock cube
400g of tomatoes, roughly chopped (sometimes i use the hand whisk to blend them up)
Juice of 1/2 -1 lemon (depending on how citrus-y you like)
Tobasco
Salt and Pepper

It is also nice with a little flat leaf parsley added at the end, but this is optional

1) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry onion until browned. Add the garilc, celery and cumin and fry for another minute

2) Add one can of chickpeas (with the fluid), and the saffron, crumble in the stock cube and heat until bubbling gently, stirring to disolve the stock cube- about 5 mins

3)Add the remainning chickpeas and fluid with an extra 250ml water, leave on  gentle heat for about 25 minutes

4)Add the chopped or blended tomatoes, 2/3 of chopped corrander, lemon juice, tobasco and salt and pepper, stir for a minute then remove from the heat

5) Garnish with the remainder of the coriander, and serve with slice of chunky bread