Garbanzo Bean Soup

2 1/2 C dried garbanzo beans

3 T olive oil

1 large onion -- finely diced

1 small carrot -- finely diced

1 stalk celery -- finely diced

9 C broth

1/4 C fresh lemon juice

To serve: 2/3 C sour cream

3 T chopped fresh dill

Supposedly serves 9, what an odd number to see in the servings... 1. Place the garbanzo beans in a bowl, cover with 3 inches of water and soak for at least 8 hours or up to 10. Or for a quick cooking method, cover beans with boiling water and set aside to cook for 1 hour, then continue with the recipe.

(What a lot of fuss..no wonder folks don`t use dry beans....the easiest way is to soak your beans one night (in the fridge in warm weather so they don;t ferment), pour off the cooking water, dump into crock pot, cover with water, can add a piece of kombu, a sea veggie, and cook on low all day. drain, and freeze in freezer bags in use sizes (1 C, 2 C etc). To use, take the bag out and dump into soup pot with everything else.)

2. Place oil in a 2 qt soup pot over med heat add onions and cook for 5 min, Add carrots and celery and cook another 5 mint.

(Again I wouldn`t bother, I`d swipe out the bottom of the pot with my trusty pastry brush and a little bit of oil, add the stuff and cook gently till softened)

3. Add the drained beans and 6 C broth. Cover, raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook covered for 1 1/2 hours.

(This is too much like work...I`d dump it into a crockpot and forget about it for a few hours)

4. Puree

5. Combine the puree, remaining 3 C broth and lemon juice in a 1 qt pot, Cover, bring to boil;l then reduce the heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Place a dollop of sour cream ( I`d use non fat plain yoghurt but one could use fat free sour cream, I suppose) in each soup bowl, sprinkle with dill and pour hot soup into the bowls.

To freeze: Allow the pureed beans to cool to room temp. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled then freeze up to 6 months. To serve, defrost and finish as in Step 5.

of course, I`d put garlic into this soup or serve it with Garlic Bread by the Empress of Garlic and a salad. Comments by Gloriamarie