Easy Chickpea Noodle Soup

Ah, my blog's namesake. I wanted something catchy...something people would remember. Chicken noodle soup is such a common comfort food and it seems everyone likes it. Of course, I had to go with the vegetarian version to stay on subject. There are lots of ways to make mock chicken noodle soup. Almost always you want a "no-chicken" broth for your base. You can buy it in quarts or you can buy bouillon cubes. I'm sure there's a way to make it from scratch but I'm just not there yet. Then you need to substitute your chicken. Some people do tofu, some people do seitan. Some people buy mock chicken and cut that up. I like chickpeas. "Chickpea Noodle Soup" sounds better than "Seitan Noodle Soup". They aren't processed and it's easy to just dump them in. If you cook your own from dry beans and keep them in portions in the freezer, you can skip the added sodium of canned beans, but still have the convenience. Soba or udon noodles give it that "Campbell's" texture. Only make as much as you need, because that type of noodle will continue to absorb the broth and get really mushy after a while. Or you can store it if you want, but you may want to just use regular noodles if you do that. This is my "easy" version, which I mostly got from 500 Vegan Recipes but changed up just a bit.

Ingredients:

4 cups no-chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen carrots
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 oz dry udon, soba, or lo mein noodles

Saute onion in a little oil in a medium pot, about 5-7 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add the veggies and chickpeas and return to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer 7-10 minutes or until noodles are tender.

How easy is that?

I didn't have carrots on hand when I took this picture. It's excellent with whatever you decide to put in it. Maybe even mushrooms, if that's your kind of thing. I like a lot of pepper on top of mine.