Spanish Chickpea Soup

As I said in my last post, it's been a soup kind of week. I've been realizing that I love pressure-cooker recipes that don't call for soaking the beans ahead of time- it's rare for me to remember to, and I love the spontaneity of being able to throw a bunch of stuff in the cooker and have it do its thing while I work on other projects. This week I made a very rich and flavorful chickpea soup in the pressure cooker while I got a bunch of chores done and caught up with my dad on the phone.  This is another recipe that calls for meat, so I added some other ingredients to make it flavorful and still vegetarian. If you want to make a meat version, omit the smoked paprika, chipotle chilies, and tomato paste and add 4 ounces of diced spanish chorizo.

Spanish Chickpea Soup

adpated from Cooking Light, September 2010

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 Tbs tomato paste

6 cups broth

1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas

2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, diced

2 bay leaves

6 cups chopped collard greens

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

2 tbs red wine vinegar

salt and black pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Preparation

1. Heat a 6-quart pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic, smoked paprika, and tomato paste; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in broth, chickpeas, chipotle chilies, and bay leaves. Close lid securely; bring to high pressure over high heat. Adjust heat to medium or level needed to maintain high pressure; cook 1 hour. Remove from heat; let rest until cooker is depressurized (I waited 15 minutes). Remove lid. Discard bay leaves. Add collard greens and remaining ingredients, cooking uncovered for a few more minutes until the collards are wilted. Serve.