Spicy Broccoli & Hempseed Stew

The Tig Archives 09 / 26 / 2016

One of our favorite things about the changing seasons is, naturally, all the new food we get to sink our teeth into. And as it gets to be more and more chilly outside, the demand on our tummies for warm, comforting dishes is only growing stronger. So today we’re sharing with you a fabulous and healthy recipe from Nicole Centeno, author of the new Soup Cleanse Cookbook and the woman heading up Splendid Spoon, a holistic plant-based food delivery service that is leading the charge in clean eating. Nutritious food that also leaves us full and satisfied? We can spoon up to that any day.

From Nicole

I love this stew! The blended base gets its spice from simple red-pepper flakes, and the body comes from chickpeas, a reliable pantry basic in the Splendid Spoon kitchen—but there’s nothing basic about this stew. Hempseed provides a complete set of amino acids to give your body every building block it needs to fuel the strengthening of its muscles. (And hopefully you’re moving them more and more as you deepen your connection to souping and invite the mantras and movements into your daytime routine.)

I really enjoy the fresh morsels of broccoli, but this flavor is easily transformed into a full-on puree. I’ve been known to puree the leftovers of this soup for a spicy breakfast. It’s interesting how a change in texture can transform the whole experience of a soup, isn’t it?

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Place a steamer basket in a large pot with 1 quart of the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Steam the broccoli in the basket for 15 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender. (See “A Note on Steaming” on page 117 of Soup Cleanse Cookbook for more tips on steaming.) Reserve the steaming water.
  2. In a medium pot over medium heat, warm the oil. Cook the scallions for 5 minutes, or until they are soft and translucent. Stir in the chickpeas, the water reserved from the steamed broccoli, and the remaining ½ quart water and cook for 1 hour (or 15 minutes for the canned chickpeas), or until the chickpeas are tender.
  3. Stir in the hempseed, salt, red-pepper flakes, lime juice, and lime peel and cook for a few minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth (or puree the soup in a countertop blender and then add back to the pot).
  4. Stir in the steamed broccoli, cilantro, and mint and cook on medium for 2 to 3 minutes just to reheat the broccoli.
  5. Ladle into warm bowls.

Images via: Splendid Spoon