This is a healthy, restorative, and surprisingly filling meal soup. It would probably taste best if made from dried, rehydrated and cooked chickpeas but I cheated and used a can of garbanzo beans, which meant that I had a delicious dinner on the table in under five minutes.
A quick reminder: I am cooking for one until L.'s return so please multiply this by the number of people for whom you are cooking, keeping in mind that this was meal soup and therefore could probably serve 2 as a first course.
1 can garbanzo beans
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/3 tomato, roughly chopped
1/3 zucchini, roughly chopped
1/2 shallot, roughly chopped
1/3 bottle pickled artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
1 1/2 to 2 cups cups water
Salt to taste
Pick over the garbanzo beans, rolling them through your fingers to remove the skins. This is a boring (but not too time consuming) task and one that will make a big difference in the soup's final texture.
Place the garbanzo beans (reserving 10 for garnish), cumin, pomegranate molasses, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl or a blender. Add 1/2 cup of water and blend or whiz with immersion blender until very smooth.
Add salt and check for seasoning; you may want more cumin. Add the remaining water, a bit at a time, until you reach the consistency of soup that you desire. It was 93 out today and I wanted a thin, drinkable soup so used all 2 cups of water but 1 1/2 cups would make for a creamier, thicker soup. Up to you.
Pour into a bowl and top with tomato, zucchini, shallot, artichoke hearts and remaining chickpeas. Mix in the vegetables prior to eating.
You could also garnish this with a drizzle of herb oil if you so desired but I liked how simplistic this soup was and how healthy it tasted while being very flavorful.