Serves 6
Total time: 40 minutes || Active time: 15 minutes
See those sets of footprints in the snow? Now notice where one set disappears? That was when soup was carrying you.
It’s January (again? wtf!) in the midwest. The Christmas lights are coming down (well, they should be anyway), the Valentine’s hearts have not yet appeared, and the New Year’s Resolutions are just beginning to wobble. The only thing that’s keeping society from falling to pieces is soup!
Invite a friend over, break some bread (olive sourdough spoken here), and inhale big bowlfuls of comfort like this one. Chewy rice and succulent chickpeas, fragranced with rosemary, thyme and celery, pulled together by luscious cashew cream. And of course I throw in a little kale at the end for good measure. I chose lacinato because it holds its bite, but you, of course, can use whatever you like! Some green onions on top add another whiff of of flavor and even a hint at Springtime, which — hard to believe — is just around the corner. I promise.
Notes
~ If — for whatever reason — you don’t want to use cashew cream, unsweetened plain almond or soy milk will work. It doesn’t get as creamy, but it’s still yummy! Just please double and triple check that it’s unsweetened, or it’ll be awkward tasting.
Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 cup rice, rinsed (see note about rice)
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, diced chunky
5 cups vegetable broth
1 24 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)
4 cups chopped kale
Thinly sliced green onion, for garnish
Directions
Add rice, celery and carrots and then pour in the broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer, add the chickpeas, and let cook for about 15 more minutes, until rice is cooked and carrots are tender.
Add the cashew cream and kale, and simmer until kale is wilted, 3 to 5 more minutes. You may need to add water to thin the soup if it seems too thick. Taste for salt and seasonings and let sit for 10 minutes or so to allow the flavors to marry. Serve topped with green onions.
It thickens as it cools, so if you have leftovers, just thin with a little water when you reheat.
Wonderful creamy soup! My husband sometimes adds ground sunflower seeds to soup to make it richer.
Just finished making this… it is probably the best soup I’ve ever had. I went ahead and let the cashews soak overnight, just because I had the time to do it (even though I am very excited to learn that I can microwave them too!). I used white beans instead of chickpeas, I didn’t have an onion, so I picked a couple of small leeks from the garden (my kale is from the garden, too), and I added mushrooms…because I like them 🙂 Thank you so much, Isa for sharing your amazing recipes! I got 2 of your cookbooks for Christmas 🙂
I’ve been vegan for a little over a year and this is one of the most delicious things I’ve made thus far. I gotta hand it to you, your recipes whether in blog or cookbook form make me wonder why I didn’t give up all animal products sooner. Eating your meals, using your recipes…I don’t miss meat at all. In my pre-veg life, whenever my wife would suggest soup for dinner, I would say, with a hint of snark, “Thanks for the thought, but I’m not sick,” because as a meat-and-potatoes person my whole life I couldn’t imagine a world where soup, just SOUP, was a meal unless you had a sore throat and the sniffles. You have changed my mind. Time and time again. Thank you.
All I can say is ‘Orgasmic’! I’m eating this right now for lunch. YUM!
I always make creamy soups by blending some of the soup with cashews and nut yeast! Yummy goodness! Tom: replace starches with more veggies.
OH. MY. GOODNESS. I want to SWEAR at you right now this is so good.
But I won’t.
Cause I’m a lady.
This is the one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. I knew it would be good, but this was UNREAL.
I microwaved my cashews, cause I’m lazy, and my market didn’t have kale so I had to use broccoli. I also only had a 19oz can of chickpeas but added a cup of sweet potato.
Thank you for continuing to amaze me and my tastebuds.
This soup is a winner! I made it tonight and it was delish! I used spelt berries because I didn’t have any interesting rice (I soaked and cooked them a bit first). It added a nice bite/texture to it. I also had to use curly kale since that’s all I had, but it was great. I used homemade veggie stock and then added an Un-Chkn cube to make it a little richer. Served it with lots of fresh cracked pepper and some nice toasty whole grain bread. It was a perfect dinner on this chilly night! Thank you!!
Made this tonight! Turned out amazing with a few add ins. I pressure cooked my chickpeas. Used wild rice which did take a long time to boil, 35 min maybe. After 35 min of boiling rice and veggies I added a diced up white sweet potato and few yukon gold potatoes. I added nooch to the cashew cream. Added some dry dill with spices. All together it turned out really good. I use celifibr no chicken boullion cubes. The soup had a lot of different textures and a great flavor combo of mild sweet and savory! All three kiddos of mine loved it! I almost forgot to add kale but the kale is like the cherry on top!
Yum! I made this for dinner tonight, and my family LOVED it! Like other commenters, I am enjoying Appetite For Reduction. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes, Isa!
Seriously, the best soup I have ever had! As always, your recipes ROCK!
Do you know the Nutrition values of this recipe? I do Weight Watchers and would like to figure out the points plus value. Thanks!
Made this last night with unsweetened almond milk, because I’m poor, but still really wanted to make this soup. I was not disappointed, and I’m just thinking how much better it would taste with cashew cream! Better than Bouillon is my absolute favorite, so thanks for suggesting. This soup was so comforting—thanks for the recipe!
Susan (commenter right above me), I do WW, and I put the recipe in the recipe builder (although I used almond milk), and it came to 6 points when you make it into 8 servings. Hope this helps! Have you tried the recipe builder? It’s magic!
Any thoughts on using coconut creamer instead of the almond milk or cashew cream?
This soup is magical. My normally fussy three month old happily sat in her chair the entire time it was cooking and my newly-picky 3 year old asked for a second bowl! Wonderful and warming! I added a few cups of grated celeriac to it, mostly because I’m addicted to it and will put it into anything I can.
Thank you for another great recipe!
I’m making this right now in a slow cooker. I almost had a meltdown when I found out all I had was a half a can of chickpeas. HALF A CAN! I’m not sure how that happened. As I generally have several cans on hand. I just upped the rice and kale a little. Fingers crossed it comes out ok. 🙂
I finally made this meal last night and it was a hit in our house. I don’t know how you do it Isa, but everything you make is fool proof. Because of you, I can make a baguette I can be proud of (Olive oil bread) and yes I served it with this awesome soup 😉
I’m allergic to cashews and it breaks my heart when I see a recipe that looks amazing but it’s one of the main ingredients. Are there any good substitutes? I’m only allergic to cashews and pistachios any other nut I can eat and be fine.
YUMMMMM!!!!! I made this last night and had some Italian rosemary bread with it. SO SO GOOD! I substituted white navy beans for the chickpeas because I like them better and it was amazing.
Just made this, it’s absolutely delicious!!! I nearly burned the kitchen down, but that is certainly not your fault. Didn’t have a big enough pot to start. I improvised, however, and it came out wonderfully! So filling. Thanks for the recipe :o)
great recipe! i added some lemon juice at the end
Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing your talents.
oh hells yeah!! I can’t wait for Friday night to soak my cashews for Saturday now!
I made this last night. Easy and delicious! I used Trader Joe’s brown rice medley and it was perfect.
This was unbelievably, incredibly, beautifully delicious! So simple but so much flavour! I made mine with unsweetened soy milk instead of cashews and used brown rice for chewiness it was perfection, plain and simple!
I happened to have all the ingredients so this was dinner last night. Yum yum yum! Thank you so much for sharing the microwaving tip, Isa. The advance prep is the only reason I’ve never used cashews this way! I was missing out.
I just found you a few months ago and I am now obsessed. I was living in darkness! This is by far my new favorite cooking blog. ! I’m now a proud owner of 2 of your cookbooks and can’t wait to get more. Made this tonight and it was amazing. Husband loved it too. Made it with wild rice and bok choy because that’s what I had and it was really, really delicious. THANK you for all of the healthy and inspired recipes!
Aw shucks 🙂
This is a PERFECT recipe for this time of year… I feel warmer already 🙂
Thanks!!!
MMM I love soup! Excited to try this recipe, thanks for sharing it!
I made this tonight. Very hearty and delicious.
I made this in a slow cooker today. Toss everything in for 4 hours on low (including the uncoked rice) it cam out fab.
Love the recipe, def going to my favorites folder. Thank you!
Holy AWESOME! This is my family’s new favorite soup BY FAR! Easy, yummy, creamy. Thank you!
This isn’t a soup! It’s a meal in a bowl! I thought this could be a starter before some leftovers… Well, had to save the leftovers for another night… Yum.
This is delicious! Hearty, satisfying, and just plain yummy. My boyfriend made it for us tonight and we both love it. Thank you for continuing to provide recipes my omnivore fellow enjoys making (and of course, eating) with his vegan gal. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow…
This was great! These are all ingredients I keep in the house and garden over the winter and I made cornmeal/cranberry muffins to go with it. The family ate until they were stuffed and the soup was gone. They couldn’t stop. Thanks Isa!
So stinkin’ delicious. Savory, warming, hearty, and nourishing. My non-vegan husband absolutely loved it. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I used frozen soaked cashews. I soaked a whole bunch two months ago, had extra and decided just to freeze them. I thawed them in the microwave on low for a few minutes before putting them in the blender with the water and the recipe still turned out great.
This was easy and sooooo delicious! Nice delicate flavor, silky creaminess from the cashew… My father-in-law, a notorious kale hater, asked for seconds! Thank you for another home run!
I just finished making this. It was soooooooooo good and so fresh. I used 1cup quinoa but would probably use rice or spelt next time. Sadly, I had no cashews so I had to use UNSWEETENED COCONUT MILK. It was fine, but thin. I would definitely go the cashew route next time. The green onions really set this off – don’t skip this step. This soup is just what I needed after all the ish i put in my body during the holidays. My resolution is to go mostly vegan this year and this was the perfect recipe to put me on the path. I made this recipe with butter instead of olive oil, but I used Harvest 2000 Chicken Flavor Vegetarian Bouillon Mix. It’s a tasty powder bouillon and I always have it on hand. Why mostly vegan? I’m a big believer in grass fed Butter for many reasons. One important reason is that the ONLY olis you should heat are butter, coconut oil and – gasp/yuk- beef tallow) Not olive, grapeseed, walnut, peanut or any other “high smoke point” oils. Look into it.
But I digress – GREAT RECIPE!!!
Oh me oh my . . . This is soooo incredibly delicious. Everything you touch turns to yumminess! I stopped mid-bowl, telling my husband, “this is so good I need to write a review” (soup is cooling, it’s ok). THANK YOU!
Yay, thanks!
I made this today with a few subs. I used white beans in place of chickpeas (as I’m eating a lot of hummus at the moment), spinach in place of kale (I had it on hand) and wild rice (which I mostly-cooked in a separate pot before adding into the soup and simmering about fifteen minutes longer). But the biggest change I made was using PUREED SILKEN TOFU to make the soup creamy. I just gave it a whirl in my blender with a bulb of roasted garlic (peeled, duh) and then stirred it in. The soup is super-creamy and it adds 20 grams of protein to the pot!
This looks soooo yummy & perfect for a winter night!
When do you add the rice & how much do you add?
I made this soup last night and I have to say, it’s one of the best I’ve ever made! In addition to the seasonings listed, I added some celery seed and a little extra salt. It was so delicious, and ever better for lunch today. Thanks Isa!
What ind of rice do you use?
How many calories does this soup contain does anyone know?
Tried this but it was too overwhelmingly creamy for me.
Good basic recipe – but I want to taste the veggies and the cashews overpowered them.
I think next time I might use 1/2 – 3/4 the amount of cashews. Also would be good with curry spices and dried fruits.