A hearty squeeze of lemon and loads of fresh dill liven up this chunky veggie, orzo, & chickpea soup.
Yield: 4
Ingredients
1tablespoonolive oil
1medium leekhalved and sliced - about 1 cup chopped
1medium carrotmedium dice - about 1/2 cup
1medium stalk celerysliced - about 1/2 cup
2medium cloves garlicminced
1/4teaspoonground turmeric
4cupslow-sodium vegetable broth
15ouncescooked chickpeas1 can, drained and rinsed
1/3cupuncooked orzo
1/2teaspoonkosher salt + more to taste
1/4teaspoonground black pepper + more to taste
1/4cupfresh dillchopped
Juice of 1 lemonabout 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Set a medium soup pot over low heat. Add olive oil, leeks, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic and turmeric and cook, stirring frequently, for one more minute.
Add the vegetable broth, chickpeas, orzo, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until the orzo is tender, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir in the dill. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired (I add at least another 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, but I like things on the salty side.)
Serve with additional dill as garnish.
Notes
Note that this soup actually doesn't keep all that well because the orzo continues to cook and swell up. It's still perfectly edible, but the soup thickens quite a bit after it sits. If you want to make it ahead, I suggest cooking it up to the point where you add the orzo. When reheating, bring to a boil, add the orzo, and continue from there.Adapted from Bon Appetit