Garbanzo Bean (Chickpea) Soup

This recipe is modified from the recipe in Tweleve Months of Monsatery Soups.

2 cups dried chickpeas*

10 cups water

1 large onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, minced

2 carrots, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 Tab. olive oil

1 bouillon cube

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

Soak chickpeas overnight.

Boil them in the water and add the remaining ingredients and cook slowly over medium heat for one hour or until the peas and all the vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper.

Simmer the soup, covered for about 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Serve hot.

*In a pinch, you can use already cooked garbanzo beans. In that case, you will need 6 cups of already cooked beans (drained). Cook the vegetables in the water for one hour without the beans and then add the beans and cook, covered for 15 minutes.