Since the new year, I’ve made good on my intention to dive back into meal planning and batch cooking. I spent most of last year immersed in recipe testing that was by turns exciting and exhausting. In December we ate up what was in our freezer, along with a lot of dinner salads and some takeout. I hoped January would be a return to a more regular home cooking routine, and for the most part, it has been.
This isn’t to say that all of what I’ve made has been exciting or memorable. We’ve eaten a lot of simple pasta (and by that I mean pasta + marinara + a cup or can of beans, nothing fancier), a lot of soup, some dinner toast, and I’ve gotten a generous dinnertime helping hand from my favorite vegan products. Compared to last year’s rotation of exciting new dishes, it’s pretty humble.
The thing about cooking, though, is that no matter how humble or random the results, I’m always glad to have done it. Even if I rummage through the pantry and slap a couple of odd ingredients together, even if the results are just OK, I’m still happy to have cooked; I’d still prefer a slapdash, homemade meal to takeout. I can think of very few activities that feel this consistently worthwhile.
This creamy chickpea miso vegetable stew is one of those random creations. It was born of necessity: I cooked a pound of chickpeas in my slow cooker over the weekend and found that they’d gotten a little too soft for salads or bowls. So, I set about making a week’s worth of hummus and this soup, both of which are ideal uses for ever-so-slightly mushy beans.
It’s not the most intentional or deliberate batch of soup I’ve made, but it works. And in fact, I was happily surprised by its simplicity. I was running low on herbs and didn’t want to spend too much time mulling over which seasonings I’d use, so I decided to use miso for both flavor and umami. I don’t usually use miso in creamy soups, but I loved the richness and subtle saltiness that it added here.
I also love the combination of textures: half of the chickpeas get pureed until they’re silky smooth, which adds body to the stew, and the other half stay the way they are. After the creamy portion of the stew has been returned to the pot, you can add any vegetables you like. I had cauliflower, carrots, kale, and a lone rutabaga on hand, but there are plenty of other winter veggies that would work, including broccoli, parsnips, potato, or turnips. Golden beets would be delicious, too (and they’d compliment the soup’s slight sweetness).
Once the soup has simmered for a while, you can adjust the seasoning and serve it with some toast or a hunk of bread, and you’ve got a pretty satisfying meal on your hands. The recipe makes a lot–about 6-8 portions–but it’s freezer-friendly and easy to cut in half if you’d rather not have a lot leftover. I was thrilled to have as much as we did, and I’ve got a bunch frozen in single portions for easy lunches in the next few weeks.
Chickpea Miso Vegetable Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large white or yellow onion chopped
- 3 large or 6 small stalks celery, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas 2 cans, drained and rinsed
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/4 cup white miso you can substitute red or brown miso if that’s what you have; use chickpea miso or barley miso if you need the soup to be soy-free
- 4 carrots peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced into half-moons (about 1/2 lb)
- 1 small or 1/2 large head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces (about 1 lb, or 3-4 cups)
- 1 medium sized rutabaga turnip, or potato, peeled and diced (or 3-4 parsnips, peeled and diced)
- 1 small bunch kale stems removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- Salt and pepper as needed
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a stockpot over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onion and celery. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the onion is clear and tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring constantly. Add the chickpeas, broth, and paprika to the pot. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat.
- Place the miso in a small bowl. Use a ladle to transfer a small amount (about 3/4 cup) of broth to to the bowl. Whisk the miso with the broth to create a smooth slurry, then transfer the slurry back to the soup pot. Stir the soup. Place about half of the soup into a standing blender and blend till it’s totally smooth, then return it to the pot; alternately, you can use an immersion blender to puree half the soup. Stir again.
- Add the carrots, cauliflower, rutabaga, and kale to the pot. Bring the soup back to a low simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are tender. Taste the soup and add salt, pepper, and lemon juice as needed. Serve.
Notes
Another advantage of the stew is that it comes together relatively quickly. The chickpeas don’t need to simmer long before the miso is added, since they’re pre-cooked, and after you add your miso slurry and puree half the soup, you only need to simmer it for as long as the vegetables take to become tender. It’s a good candidate for weeknight cooking as well as a cozy weekend meal.
The chickpea/miso combination now has me mulling over a miso hummus; I should probably slightly overcook another batch of chickpeas this coming weekend!
It’s rare that I cook at random these days; blogging and meal planning don’t give me much space to peer into my pantry or fridge and just come up with an idea on the fly. This stew was a happy reminder that really good things can happen in the absence of a plan, and I hope it’s the first of many casual kitchen experiments this year. When I started blogging, my recipes were often happy accidents (mixed up with lots of not-so-happy accidents). I’m glad to have become a little more deliberate and thoughtful with my food, but some spontaneity has been lost, and in the spirit of small adventures that I mentioned last weekend, I’m ready to welcome it back.
xo
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A good bar in my town used to serve fermented hummus. Man.
I’m always looking for new miso soup recipes. This looks so delicious and nourishing that I may have to make this for dinner tonight.
Great 🙂 I’m always on the lookout for ways to use miso. Right now I’m having it spread thinly on toast, topped with avocado slices (how not original I know…)
This is fantastic!! Thanks Gina!! Loving this hearty, creamy, full of vegetables deliciousness. Very good!!
My husband made this last night while I nursed our little one to sleep and boy was it delicious! Made the whole house smell divine and was so comforting and lovely. We used just one can of chickpeas for a brothier soup, leftover roasted cauliflower, and individually shook paprika on our bowl before serving. Also squeezed in a little lemon. With a beautiful coconut butter topped piece of toast on the side along with a salad of kale, roasted sweet potato, avocado and tahini, this was a wonderful Sunday supper and leftovers will feed us all week. Thank you! 5 stars!
I haven’t tasted it yet, but it looks and smells delicious! One question: when does the paprika go in? I see it in the ingredient list, but not in the directions. Thanks!!
Oh, I hope you enjoy it! I’m sorry for the oversight–you add it along with the broth. I’ll be sure to add that to the instructions.
I have to remember to STOP visiting TFH when I’m hungry. I’m gonna’ cook a lot of stuff now.
Thanks for all the inspiration!
-Mikey
Looks a lovely recipe! I totally agree with batch cooking, this helps me keep on track. “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”
Perfect recipe, looks like it was made for me, I have to do it urgently, I was looking for something like that, thank you very much for the recipe.
Good one. its everthing i really love. Thank you for your recipe
this one like so delicious. Thanks
I’ve made this 4 times and I love it more each time! It freezes perfectly. I followed the instructions closely the first two times and deviated from them just a smidge the last two. I had trouble getting my cauliflower and carrots tender enough during the simmer after I added the miso–I didn’t want to turn up the heat because I didn’t want the miso to lose it’s beneficial probiotics. So, before I added the miso, I added the cauliflower, carrots, and potato to the chickpea mixture and cooked it all on a higher temp. When everything was tender, I added the miso. And then I blended part of the soup and left part of it unblended for texture. It was fantastic! It was just as fantastic following the directions, it just took a bit longer on my stove. I can’t thank you enough for all of your recipes. They’ve never failed me; none of them!
Thanks Bethany! I always follow your way of doing it now. 🙂
It looks and smells delicious. I will try it as soon as possible. God Bless You
Looks delicious! 😀
Perfect healthy soup for a chilly and rainy day! I ended up adding about 2-3 more cups of broth along with additional miso and paprika. Depending on the size of your veggies you might need more broth, which was the issue I ran into, but it all worked out and I was able to freeze some. I used turnips because I got them in my CSA and didn’t know what to do with them. They worked really well. I also added a zucchini in addition to the other veggies listed.
Muito bom este conteúdo
I just tried this recipe and omg so tasty and nutritious . Thanks for this!
i’m in love with this series! i was super excited when the whole “Eat Clean” series came out. I am a clean eater myself, and although i love watching Sarah Carey’s every day food series, i’ve also wished that she will show us more clean recipes. I tried the potato soup immediately watching it and fell in love with it! thank you so so so so much shira, am really looking forward to more of your recipes. you are also super gorgeous haha.
It’s one of the best recipes I’ve ever had in my life, I came to this site, I liked it and decided to put it into practice and it was delicious, super recommend and I ask you to continue with the beautiful and good work of you.
this one like so delicious. Thanks i am food lover and daily search to find new way … i really like your site and now i am your daily visitor…
The pictures look so perfect and love all the ingredients in the recipe I surely try this. thanks a lot for the recipe Gen 🙂
I don’t know why but Miso is one of those things I tend to always forget to buy more once I’m out of it and then don’t realize it until I go to use it (and am still out of it) YIKES! This looking amazing! I think I need to try it and soon! As soon as I remember to buy more miso! LOL This is my first time visiting and commenting on your blog. Bianca sent me teehee! Mind if I link you ??? Swing by my place and let me know when you can!
I loved this recipe! I love chickpeas
Love veggies
Excelente conteúdo parabéns
Amazing receip.
I did and my family loved it.
I loved this recipe! I love chickpeas
Perfect recipe! Thank you for the tip!
Great I’m always on the lookout for ways to use miso. Right now I’m having it spread thinly on toast, topped with avocado slices (how not original I know…)
this one like so delicious. Thanks i am food lover and daily search to find new way
This is fantastic!! Thanks Gina!
This vegetable stew look delicious! I am going to buy all it ingredients to prepare it this weekend! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!
this is soup! delicious
Looks like it was made for me. delicious
what a wonderful soup, loved it!
ho my god ! i’ts gooood