This is my really flavorful low fat soup of chickpea, kale & pasta.  I’ve given you a chicken version at the end.  First grind one tablespoon each of fresh coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds with one giant bayleaf and saute the spices for a few minutes in a little extra virgin olive oil at medium heat (a 5 on my stove, yours may be different.)  Add one chopped onion, one carrot, one celery stalk, the chopped leaves of 2 sprigs of rosemary and 6 garlic cloves to the pan of spices and let everything become golden and softly translucent.  Add one half can of chickpeas and all the liquid they came in.

Add a box of chicken stock.  You can add veggie stock to keep it vegetarian if you like.  I added a second bay leaf.  I put one smashed stalk of lemon grass in.  I find lemon grass stays woody, so I always take it out before serving.  I cooked on just a simmer for 35 minutes.  While that was cooking, I ground a half teaspoon each of the seeds of coriander, cumin and fennel and added 3 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper.  In a small pan I heated some olive oil and used the flour to create a quasi-roux.

Browning  the spiced flour in the pan will be like moving icing around back and forth until it gets golden with flavor.  Keep the heat low and if it burns throw it away.  Spoon some of the hot soup into the roux to make it thinner and cook it down a little more, stirring as it cooks.  Do that for about 20 minutes and then add it to the soup as it cooks.

I added a cup of chopped kale the last 10 minutes, along with a 1/4 cup of shell pasta.  Add fresh coarsely ground black pepper and sea salt at the end and top with some fresh chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

I’ve also done a chicken version, first sauteeing in a little olive oil some chicken chunks that had been dredged in flour which had been seasoned with a teaspoon each crushed coriander, fennel and cumin.  A quick brown on both sides and into the pot with the soup for a slow simmer for 35 minutes.  The (quasi) roux gives it that thick, velvety consistency like you get in good, homemade chicken soups.   I’ll do this every time for a chicken soup now.