Finally! I have a recipe that will put to good use the Thai Basil I bought on a whim from the greenhouse.
I was on a fresh herb kick a couple months back. I thought to grow my own potted herbs would be so economical and healthy. Plus, when I put a steaming hot dish of food on the table I could say ‘I picked these herbs just minutes before making this recipe.’ How cool is that?!?!?
Except I wanted to get the ‘deal’ when you buy 3 potted herbs you’d get them for cheaper. So, I had already grabbed the thyme a while ago and all I really wanted was regular Sweet Basil and Parsley, but I needed a third (well technically fourth). So I spied Thai Basil. I figured I’d be adventureous. I have had one single leaf and that’s it. I’ve been searching for suitable recipes ever since.
I found this one via PETA on vegcooking.com. I haven’t tried it yet, but the recipe calls for 1 cup freshly chopped basil. I’ll be using my Thai Basil, thankyouverymuch. I’ll let y’all know how it turns out!
I’ll probably be halfing this recipe since Levi hates soup. I love it. But I can’t eat 10 cups worth without growing tired of it. The recipe doesn’t say if it’s freezer friendly so I won’t risk wasting it, I’ll just cook less!
Thai Chickpea Soup
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 red peppers, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 T olive oil
- cumin, to taste
- coriander, to taste
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- 2 quarts cooked chickpeas in liquid
- 3 cups canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup good-quality peanut butter
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 T salt
- 1 cup freshly chopped basil
- salt and pepper, to taste
In a large pot, saute the onion, peppers and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Saute till fragrant.
Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, coconut milk, peanut butter, lime juice and salt. Cover with water and bring to a boil, cooking for 1 hour.
Puree half in a blender and return to the pot. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.
Makes 10 servings.
Hey there.
The last two weeks I’ve been coming to your website for inspiration on gluten free, vegan dinner recipes and tonight I’m trying this one! (Already in the process, so any questions are for future use).
What I’m puzzled about is two things. The “water to cover” thing and the cooking time. You write in the ingredient list that the chickpeas should be “cooked”, so why the one hour cooking time? What ingredient exactly is it that needs that much time, because the cumin, curiander and cayenne is already sauteéd into the vegetables. And why the water to cover (and how much?). Because after I’ve poured the tomatoes and coconut milk in, the vegetables are already pretty much covered.
Thank you, keep up the great work and have a nice day! (:
PS. Oh forgot to say, I’ve also printed your whole “Gluten-free lunch for a week” posts out, so I’m excited about that too. I’ll just have to find the time.
Oooh this is an ancient recipe that I got from another website and never got around to making. Those are good questions. From my experience with cooking soups and beans in general I would guess that the water to cover is in place of broth or stock. I won’t be able to say exactly how much since I haven’t personally made this one. (I really should just hide this recipe since I haven’t made it. This was from when my site was just a recipe curation site when I was travelling abroad.)
As for the cooking time, I would guess that the main reason is simply for allowing all the flavors to meld and come together. Sometimes cooked beans can still be a tad starchy and perhaps this helps to curb that too. Of course, all of this is a guess. I think I’ll be making this one up very soon so I can keep the recipe on my site without feeling guilty. 😉
I made this months ago but I didn’t have Thai Basil (I had never even tasted it) so I used regular basil… I think I used dried basil D: but it turned out amazing.
Recently I had a dish that had Thai Basil in it and now I put Thai Basil in e-ver-y-thing. SO YUMMY. I’m going to make this soup again today but with Thai Basil and I know it’s going to be even better!
I made this after having it at a friend’s house–so delicious!